Scarlet Sunlight
by Falneou17
Summary: Aoba Moca doesn't like this; remembering the single worst day of her life was nowhere to be seen on her to-do list for the day, but it isn't her choice that makes her do exactly that. Read on as events unfold, and Moca and her friends must do everything they can to adapt in these changing times! Future!AU where Afterglow was never formed! Based on and inspired by real-life events.
1. The Start of Something More

**Here we are with my third multi-chapter BanG Dream! story. Just like the other two, the characters of focus will all be from Afterglow. As a result, please keep in mind that there may be spoilers for those who have not read the Afterglow Band Stories yet (despite this being, you know… a full AU). Characters from the other bands will appear, but only as supporting characters at most much like how it was back in The Times We Lost (Collection). *cough* give those stories a read and a review if you guys haven't already *cough***

 **The cover image was made and graciously given to me for use by the amazing Reiriniverse from Tumblr. Thank you once again for the amazing edit! (Pssst, readers, don't forget to tell Reiriniverse how awesome it is~).**

 **And another quick thank you goes to LightZephyr who not only helped me come up with and expand upon this story's plot but helped beta it as well! The first time that Zeph has done this since I put my RWBY fic on hold over a year ago now… Anyways, one last thing before we can start the first chapter of this story!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own BanG Dream! Girls Band Party**

* * *

 _It was a dark and stormy night._

 _The citizens of Neo Signal City were promised an extraordinary weekend, but nobody could have expected this to be what was meant by the weather forecasters. The downpour alone had already resulted in millions of yen worth of property damage and it did not seem like it would let up any time soon. Those fortunate enough to still live through it all to tell the tale could say that they were thankful that the weather had yet to turn even worse._

 _At the very least, there was yet to be a lightning storm in the area, something that most people would have expected to have happened already._

 _As the pellets of rain were hammering down on the brick roofs and gale-strength winds threatened to break through the walls, one person stood tall against the forces of nature. One woman managed to hold her own and rise above the horrid weather. She was the single most courageous soul who dared to get out there in these conditions to do whatever it was that she was planning on doing next._

 _But what could she be thinking? And who was—_

* * *

"Moca-chan, are you done yet?" a familiar voice that sounded distinctly impatient shouted from the other room, shaking the girl with ivory-colored hair back to reality. Much to her surprise, she had gotten so engrossed in her writing that she had lost all sense of time and space, so much so that she was sure that she would have gone on forever had it had not been for the timely call of her friend.

"I'm coming!" she shouted over her shoulder as she turned back to her computer's screen. Smiling to herself at the progress that she has made with her new dystopian novel, the girl made sure to save all of her progress to her hard drive before shutting down the computer completely with that same proud and content smile still on her face.

Having successfully made significant progress, Aoba Moca stood up and stretched her arms up above her head in content. She had been sitting behind the screen for hours on end, a bad habit that she had picked up some time ago when she had moved into this new apartment, and her entire body was thanking her that she was allowing herself to move again.

It was only then that she remembered that her friend had been waiting for her for a long time now and, knowing who her friend was, Moca decided against making her friend wait for her any longer. She was about to rush down the stairs to meet up with her friend and apologize for the fact that she had kept her waiting when her eyes landed on the mirror that she had hung against the wall. Before she knew what she was doing, her legs were already moving and bringing her to the front of the mirror.

Looking back at Aoba Moca in the mirror was a fair-skinned eighteen-year-old girl of about one-meter-and-sixty-three. Her ivory-colored hair was partitioned into somewhat messy locks with the bangs of the girl falling low enough to slightly cover her field of vision. Moca noted that she had to get her hair trimmed in the near future as she twirled several strands of it in between her index finger and thumb in an almost aloof manner.

Moca then turned to look at the clothes that she was wearing as the thought of whether they were good enough for the occasion slipped into her mind. A loose-fitting long-sleeved white shirt under a black-colored one with short sleeves was what she was wearing in addition to a pair of navy-colored jeans. Moca smiled at the way that she looked, seemingly satisfied with the outfit that she had chosen for herself.

Rushing back to her bed to grab her purse, Moca made sure that she had every cable of her computer plugged off and that she had closed both the windows and curtains before she headed out.

"Sorry to keep you waiting for so long," Moca said once she reached the living room where her friend was waiting for her. As Moca walked over to the couch she casually added, "I got caught up again, sorry."

Having expected her friend to be scolding her for not keeping the time in mind or even for her friend to reassure her that it was all right, Moca was surprised to see that she did neither. Instead, Moca's friend had her attention focused on something else entirely, and it wasn't until Moca took another step closer that she saw what it was.

The very object that was held in the shaky fingers of Moca's closest and dearest friend was a small picture frame. What both girls could tell right away, however, was that what was depicted in the picture that truly mattered to the girl who lived here. And that was exactly why Moca's brown-haired friend was shaking.

"Moca-chan… this is…" the brunette trailed off as she turned to look at Moca. This was the first time that day that the two childhood friends shared eye contact with each other, and the first time that Moca could see the worried look on Hazawa Tsugumi's face.

Moca had a response ready for when Tsugumi would bring up the picture, but the words got stuck in Moca's throat when she saw the look on the brunette's face. The desperation and sadness that was hidden behind Tsugumi's light brown eyes took a jab at Moca from within, effectively shutting her up before Moca even had the chance to say anything in response.

But remaining quiet did not mean that Moca could not do anything in response; without wasting much time, Moca grabbed the picture frame from Tsugumi's hands and returned it where it belonged. Once she had made sure that it was placed back in its rightful place, Moca took one long last look at it before turning back to her friend.

"It's nothing… I never had the opportunity to get rid of it, that's all," Moca said without giving her friend the reassurance of looking at her. Moca knew that she had just given away way too much information to Tsugumi because of this mistake, so in an effort to distract her friend she added, "And how about you, Tsugu? Don't you have it anymore?"

"We lost it when we moved two years ago…" Tsugumi trailed off with a hurt look on her face as if she was regretting not taking better care of it in the past. With a shaky inhale of air, Tsugumi added, "So… Moca-chan, shall we?"

"Yes, let's go," Moca nodded, happy to hear that the discussion had finally ended. Leading the way to the front door, Moca graciously held it open and allowed Tsugumi to leave first. Tsugumi, in turn, had to suppress a smile as she silently walked outside, but this turned out to be a mistake on her end that she did not realize she had made until it was too late.

Instead of following Tsugumi outside right away, Moca turned to take another look at the picture frame that she had made sure to carefully return to its rightful place again. Before she knew what she was doing, Moca had already started walking towards it when—

"Moca-chan?"

Tsugumi's gentle but hesitant voice shook Moca back to her senses and ultimately succeeded in bringing her back to reality. As Moca took her time to turn to Tsugumi, something that the brunette suspected was to give her more time to think about what to say, Moca chuckled sheepishly.

"Sorry, Tsugu, I must have zoned out a bit there," Moca said while scratching the back of her head embarrassedly. Without wasting another second, she stepped out of her apartment and closed the door behind her. After having made sure that the door was properly and securely locked, Moca turned to look at Tsugumi with a smile, "There. Shall we, Tsugu?"

"Y-Yeah, let's…" Tsugumi managed to breathe out as she watched her friend try to pretend that everything was the same as always.

'Even so…' Tsugumi thought to herself with a frown as she silently watched her friend start to walk off into the distance. Shaking her head vigorously to shake those thoughts from her mind, Tsugumi ran after Moca in an effort to try and catch up to her.

'I'm happy that Moca-chan doesn't seem to be affected by it too much anymore.'

* * *

In contrast to the setting of Moca's newest novel, one where the world had fallen into ruin and was facing some of the darkest times since the last solar eclipse, the world that Moca and Tsugumi found themselves in was warm and bright as it welcomed the two girls with open arms. There were no puffy white clouds in the skies above that allowed the two friends to enjoy the sight of a crystal clear sky as they made their way through the city. A gentle breeze from the North made sure that neither of them would be suffocating from the heat anytime soon.

Due to a lack of things that the two girls could think of doing, they eventually found themselves in the city center after a long walk. Once Moca and Tsugumi were comfortably nestled among the towering buildings around them, they started to look around for a place to sit down and relax their feet at.

"How about—" Moca started to suggest with a devious smirk when the two of them turned a familiar corner and a certain café started to come into view. Unfortunately for Moca, she was abruptly interrupted when Tsugumi effectively shoved her hand into Moca's face to stop her from saying anything else.

"We can't, Moca-chan," Tsugumi said, realized what she had done and quickly apologized to Moca for almost pushing her nose into her face. As soon as Tsugumi had finished apologizing and gotten her bearings again, she straightened her back and added, "Eve-chan is having some of her friends over for a late birthday party and they have effectively reserved the entire café for them alone. The place is full now so we can't go there even if we wanted to."

"I see…" Moca trailed off as she let Tsugumi's words truly sink in. Now knowing that the Hazawa Café was out of the question for them to waste away the day in, Moca allowed her eyes to wander to try and think of something else.

It was not like Moca did not know about the things that this part of the city had, but with her main objective almost always being the Hazawa Café whenever she was in this part of the city she barely ever paid any attention to anything else. Now that she couldn't go there, she was forced to look around for something else.

And Moca had to admit, at least to herself, that she did not like the options that remained when the Hazawa Café was not one of them.

There were a couple restaurants spread across the street but it was still too early for Moca to even consider finding something even remotely filling to eat. She saw a handful of different stores that she saw sold things ranging from clothes to paintings, things that Moca was not interested in getting more of any time soon, either.

Turning away from the last store that her gaze had landed on dejectedly as soon as she saw the price tags on some of the items, Moca made the mistake of looking at the one store that sold—

"AAAAAAAH!"

The next thing Moca knew that was happening was that she was lying flat on the ground and the distinct sound of small objects clattering around her was ringing in her ears. Moca winced as she felt a weight on her back that wasn't normally there, but before she could try and think of what was going on she heard a familiar voice call out her name.

"Moca-chan! Are you all right?"

Tsugumi's voice was followed by the sound of hurried footsteps which told Moca that her friend was running towards her. Sure enough, Tsugumi was crouching right beside Moca and looking at her with worry filling her eyes.

"Did you hurt yourself anywhere?" Tsugumi asked as she carefully helped Moca to get back on her feet. Moca tried to reassure the brunette that she was fine aside from a broken pride and a few bruises, but Tsugumi was already looking over Moca to make sure that she was telling the truth.

That is, of course, until Tsugumi found the reason why her friend had been lying on the ground in the first place.

Moca noticed that Tsugumi's attention had shifted away from her and onto something else. When Moca finally found what distracted Tsugumi, she was shocked to see a girl who appeared to be just shorter than Tsugumi and about their age lie on her back not far from where Moca was.

'I wonder if she is okay…' Moca thought to herself as she eyed the girl, only now noticing the girl's faded-pink hair that reached slightly below her shoulders. The girl was wearing a candy red-colored dress with white polka dots on them, one that was unfortunately dirtied by the fall that the girl experienced just now.

Moca was about to turn to Tsugumi to ask the shorter but surprisingly reliable girl what to do next, but she never got the chance to do so. Before Moca knew what was happening, Tsugumi had already taken a few steps in the direction of the other girl.

"Himari-chan?" Tsugumi breathed out as she eyed the other girl that was on the ground carefully. Upon hearing Tsugumi's words, both Moca and this other girl looked up in response for completely different reasons, but Tsugumi only noticed this from one of them. When Tsugumi locked eyes with the girl she had called 'Himari-chan' just now, her eyes widened in pleasant surprise, "It is you! Himari-chan, it's been so long!"

"Tsugu!" Himari cried, surprisingly energetic for someone who had been knocked to the ground not too long ago. Gratefully accepting the hand that she was offered and allowing herself to be pulled back on her feet, Himari shared a quick hug with Tsugumi before adding, "It sure has been a long time. What brings you here?"

"Before I answer that, I should probably introduce you two," Tsugumi said with a sheepish smile, turning to look at Moca who nodded to show that she agreed with the brunette. Feeling a little bit more at ease and confident, Tsugumi took a step back to allow Moca and Himari to take a good look at each other, "Moca-chan, this is Uehara Himari-chan. She was my neighbor when we still lived in Yellow Cure Street. Himari-chan, this is Aoba Moca-chan, a really good friend of mine since elementary."

"It's nice to meet you," Himari said brightly with a smile as she extended her hand in Moca's direction. Her smile soon faltered, however, when she realized something. As Moca and Tsugumi both looked at Himari with a quizzical look on their faces, Himari shook her head before explaining what was bothering her, "Can I call you Moca? I mean, if you're Tsugu's friend and—"

"Of course you can call me that," Moca smiled as she accepted and took Himari's hand in her own. As the two girls exchanged friendly pleasantries, one noticeably more enthusiastically so than the other, Tsugumi simply stood there watching the two of them introduce themselves to each other.

After some time had passed and Tsugumi started to get the feeling that Himari was beginning to feel slightly uncomfortable, the brunette stepped forward and tried to break the two of them away. Nodding in acknowledgment to Himari's grateful smile, Tsugumi turned to her and asked, "So, Himari-chan, how have you been lately?"

"Awful. Just awful. Ah, thank you, Tsugu," Himari added quickly as Tsugumi picked up and handed Himari a small notebook that had been lying on the ground. Himari returned it securely back in her purse with a grateful smile before she continued her answer, "Cruz-kun and Mio-chan were a big handful again today, but at least Setsuna-chan helped me to keep them all in check. Seriously, how much trouble can a seven-year-old and a nine-year-old get into on the same day?"

"There there, Himari-chan," Tsugumi said in a gentle voice as she patted Himari's shoulder. Himari smiled appreciatively at the gesture but was quick to take Tsugumi's hand off of there, feeling like she was becoming a nuisance for her friend.

As this entire interaction was going on, a certain girl was starting to feel slightly left out of the loop.

"I'm sorry, but… what is going on?" Moca asked blankly, more to Tsugumi than to Himari as her eyes were silently pleading for an answer and explanation. Fortunately for her, she did not have to wait very long to finally receive an answer.

"I told you that Eve-chan is having a party at our café, right?" Tsugumi began as she turned to Moca, her face showing hints of slight guilt for almost effectively ignoring her friend just now. When Moca nodded in response, Tsugumi continued, "Some of Eve-chan's cousins came over here to celebrate, but they were really, um… energetic… so mom asked if they could stay at home instead, and Himari-chan offered to watch over them."

"Ah, I see…" Moca nodded slowly to herself as she let the words sink in, trying to see if she really did understand what was happening and how she should respond to it. After some time had passed, Moca turned to Himari with an unreadable expression on her face before adding nonchalantly, "So? What do you think of those kids you have to babysit, Hii-chan?"

"They're adorable and the cutest, but they can be quite the handful…" Himari said with a sheepish smile on her face, seemingly unfazed at the way that Moca had just called her. Then, after letting out a soft sigh, she added, "Seeing Cruz-kun and Mio-chan like that reminds me of how I must have been like when I was their age… I should probably call mom and dad and tell them that I appreciate everything that they have done for me then."

"I-I'm sure that you weren't as bad as you think you were, Himari-chan. We always think worse of ourselves than how others remember us, so please don't be too harsh on yourself," Tsugumi quickly said, shooting a sideward glance in Moca's direction to see how she would react. Seeing that Moca nodded slightly in appreciation, Tsugumi felt a burden she did not know was on her shoulders lift as she turned to Himari again, "Besides, your parents took care of you because they care about and love you, Himari-chan."

"You're right… thanks, Tsugu, I needed that," Himari said as she wiped the corners of her eyes using the back of her right hand. Himari took a couple deep breaths to regain her composure, but when she finally did she smiled brightly, "If you two wanted to go to a café and Eve-chan is still keeping the Hazawa Café full, there is another little café a little further away. It's a lot smaller and less well known, but it is a nice place that you can try out."

"All right, we'll check it out. Thank you, Himari-chan!" Tsugumi said as Moca nodded appreciatively in agreement. The two of them said their goodbyes to Himari, promising to meet up again in the near future before Tsugumi looked at Moca with an apologetic smile, "I'm sorry, Moca-chan, I said something selfish there. We don't have to go there if you don't want to."

"We could at least check it out. If Tsugu's precious friend and former neighbor Hii-chan says that it is good, then how bad can it possibly be?" Moca tried to reassure her friend, finding much to her surprise that she was genuinely quite curious about this café after Himari had recommended it to them. Knowing that Tsugumi would still believe that Moca was simply being nice right now, Moca raked her brain to think of something else to say to try and convince the brunette, "Besides, Moca-chan's thirsty…"

"All right all right, Moca-chan, let's go," Tsugumi said with a playful laugh, motioning for Moca to follow her as the two girls resumed walking through the streets again. The main difference between now and before they had run into Himari being that they actually had a purpose this time.

It only took her a minute or two until Moca realized something that she probably should have thought of earlier.

"Say, Tsugu…" Moca trailed off as the two girls passed a store that sold all kinds of different movies. Moca looked at them longingly for a split second but knew that she wouldn't find anything interesting so she tore her gaze away from them to continue what she was saying, "Do you know what that café that Hii-chan was talking about was called?"

"Ah!" Tsugumi exclaimed as the realization finally hit her. Under the condescending stare that she was getting from Moca, and whilst avoiding the curious looks that she was getting from passersby, Tsugumi reached for her phone in her pocket to call Himari's number.

Thankfully for her, Himari had not gotten too far yet herself and Tsugumi had ended the call only a minute after she had started it. With a sheepish smile, Tsugumi turned to Moca and nodded in confirmation that she knew what she should have known already.

"Himari-chan said that the café is called 'The Silver Harp'," Tsugumi said as she followed Moca to where the two of them knew this mystery café was located. Slightly more uneasily so, the brunette slowly added, "Himari-chan said that… it shouldn't be hard to miss when we see it. She didn't tell me why, though…"

The walk there went off without anything too eventful happening, though Moca had to drag Tsugumi away from a store selling a wide range of bath soaps and bath bombs. After failing to do so by simply trying to push Tsugumi forward, Moca instead found the solution when she saw the prices that were displayed and pointed them to Tsugumi.

Tsugumi was suddenly feeling a lot less enthusiastic about going in there to get a couple of those high-class bath bombs after Moca did that, much to Moca's relief and slight amusement.

"Sorry about that, Moca-chan…" Tsugumi trailed off as she sheepishly scratched her cheek in an almost embarrassed manner. Tsugumi was about to say something else to try and apologize to her friend, but Moca had already shrugged it off with a smile.

'Moca-chan doesn't mind seeing that side of Tsugu at all,' Moca thought to herself with a sideward glance in Tsugumi's direction, a smile already threatening to tug at the corners of her mouth. Thankfully for Moca, she managed to look away in time so as to prevent Tsugumi from seeing her like that as a new thought entered her mind, 'I'm happy I still get to see that side of Tsugu at all.'

"Ah, is that—?!"

Blissfully unaware of what was going on in Moca's head, Tsugumi had turned the corner and gasped whilst pointing a finger at the thing that she was looking at. Hearing the sound of Tsugumi's voice again did bring Moca back to reality and she turned to look at whatever it was that had caught Tsugumi's attention. It did not take Moca very long to realize what it was that did.

In front of them was a small building, seemingly only two floors high at most, that had the name of the building spelled out in big letters in front of it; there was no way that either Moca or Tsugumi would be able to miss this building at all, just as Tsugumi claimed Himari had said. What shocked them the most was not this or the neon lights that decorated the outer walls, however.

What really took the two girls by surprise was the type of people that were seemingly going in and out of the café. A tall male with shoulder-length red hair was following a girl holding an umbrella to protect her from the sun that has since been obscured by a big cloud. This unusual duo was about to enter the café when a male wearing a blue blazer exited the café whilst adjusting his glasses.

In an effort to not run into each other, the redhead pulled his companion to the side and waited outside long enough for a brunette to hop out cheerfully. This girl was just as tall as Tsugumi, wearing a hairpin resembling the face of a cat and hurrying after the boy that had left the café before her.

The people who were already seated inside of the café did not seem like they were any less unusual than the people that Moca and Tsugumi saw outside of the café. A girl with light-blue colored hair and who was wearing a white-and-pink-colored dress was seated in a table by the window whilst being in an animated conversation with a fair-skinned, tall girl with a hair color that reminded Moca of—

"Moca-chan?" Tsugumi asked worriedly as she noticed the change in Moca's stance, turning fully to Moca's direction and placing a comforting and reassuring hand on the taller girl's shoulder. With a shaky but determined smile, Tsugumi added, "If Moca-chan isn't feeling well and doesn't feel like going to this café, we can still look around for something else that we can go to if you want."

"…thank you, Tsugu," Moca whispered softly, but she knew that Tsugumi had heard her. Tsugumi was one of the very few people who could tell when something was wrong with Moca, especially after the events of that day.

Trying to shake those intrusive thoughts out of her head, Moca was about to open her mouth to tell Tsugumi that she was ready to go again when it happened. Of all shops in the entire city that she could have laid her eyes on, Moca's eyes just had to land on that one.

Before either Moca or Tsugumi knew what was happening, a stream of images and memories started to resurface in Moca's head. Like the waves of the sea as the moon rises, they kept coming back harder and harder, and it was only a matter of time until the rock that was Aoba Moca would shatter.

That time was not long after those memories started to come back to her. Not long at all.

Moca grabbed the sides of her head with both of her hands, digging her nails into the scalp of her head in the process and collapsed down on her knees. Not caring anymore who or what saw her in this condition and only worried about escaping from this torture, Moca screamed out in pain, anguish, and agony. But most of all, she screamed in despair, wishing and praying that she wouldn't be forced to relive the memories that threatened to overwhelm her completely.

Of course, Moca's sudden actions did not go unnoticed. Tsugumi was already by Moca's side only seconds after Moca had started breaking down, and even some passersby were rushing towards the girl to see if they could do anything to help. Among these was a short girl with flowing white hair that she had tied into a side-ponytail, a tall girl with waist-length red hair, and a girl with purple-colored hair that she had tied into a set of twintails.

"What's going—?!" Tsugumi exclaimed in panic, looking around her to see what had caused this reaction out of Moca only for her to see the store that Moca had seen. As realization quickly dawned upon her and Tsugumi's heart sank immediately when she realized she had not been prepared for this, she turned back to her friend when she heard a soft thud beside her, "Moca-chan?"

In Tsugumi's moment of inattention, Moca had collapsed on the ground. She was unconscious, and nothing that Tsugumi or anybody else who had crowded around the fallen girl did could wake her.

"Moca-chan?! Moca-chan! Moca-chan!"

* * *

 **I think that that is a good point to end the chapter, wouldn't you agree? This story, assuming that everything goes right, will be uploaded on a biweekly schedule every other Saturday from now on. So with all of that said and done… I hope that you all enjoyed today's chapter, please leave a review telling me what you thought, and until next time! Take care!**


	2. What Happened Then

**So here we are with the next chapter, exactly two weeks since the last chapter went up, correct? Anyways, while I would prefer to get right into it there are still a few things that need to be said (and, as a result, they shall be said):**

 **1\. A special thank you goes straight to LightZephyr for helping me with not only the planning of but also the beta reading of this chapter!**

 **2\. I do not own BanG Dream! Girls Band Party, nor do I, in any way, shape or form, intend to pretend that I do.**

* * *

 _"What is—?" a fifteen-year-old Aoba Moca cried out the moment she had stepped out of the house, blinded by the harsh and intense rays of the sun and unable to adapt quickly enough. She had been staying inside for an extended period of time, and going outside again for the first time in days was putting a toll on her body._

 _Fortunately for Moca, whoever was waiting for her on the other side of the door had enough patience to wait for Moca's eyes to adjust to the outside world._

 _"Tsugu…?" Moca muttered while glaring through open fingers, only barely able to distinguish the brunette's features in the glaring sun. It was a demanding task to do for sure for the poor girl's eyes, but she managed to recover quite quickly._

 _"Ready to go, Moca-chan?" Tsugumi asked with a smile so bright it could rival the sun's rays, almost succeeding in blinding Moca once again. Moca had always wondered why and how her friend managed to be as cheerful as she was seemingly all the time, but never had the chance to ask. Now did not seem like a very good time to ask, either, so instead, Moca nodded silently in confirmation._

 _After Moca had shouted back in the house that she was leaving and would be out for a decent bit, she followed Tsugumi through the streets down the familiar path the two of them had always walked down over the course of the years. The two girls did not do so quietly, however, and people around them watched them walk past with smiles on their faces when they saw how close the two of them were._

 _As Moca and Tsugumi made their way through the brightly lit streets, the two of them talked about anything and everything that they could think of. This ranged from the exam that they had to do in a couple days to possible places that Tsugumi's parents were thinking of moving to as the contract of their current rented house was coming to an end._

 _Before either Moca or Tsugumi had realized it, they were close to reaching their destination, but one of the two quickly noticed that something was amiss. Like something was horribly wrong and they should not be here._

 _"What's wrong?" Tsugumi asked when she had narrowly avoided bumping into Moca, not realizing until the very last moment that her friend had suddenly stopped moving. Looking at Moca curiously, Tsugumi then followed Moca's line of vision when she ended up looking at the big building beside them. Unfortunately for Tsugumi, this did not give her any answers as to what was happening, and Moca did not seem to be in a state where she could give Tsugumi the answer herself._

 _'Something does not feel right…' Moca thought to herself as she scanned the building, knowing that she knew that something was wrong but not knowing what exactly it was. Moca was about to shrug it off as a part of her paranoia hitting her but that is exactly when it happened. The distinct and familiar smell that trickled the inside of Moca's nose was indication enough that she did not have a lot of time to do something about it._

 _"Tsugu! Watch out!" Moca shouted in alarm, jumping at Tsugu and pulling her down on the ground in the process. As she did this, Moca made sure that she lay on top of her friend to protect her from what was about to happen. In the heat of the moment, Moca could still make out the shocked look on Tsugumi's face when the two of them hit the pavement, but Moca did not have the time to answer Tsugumi's unanswered question._

 _And she did not have to; the explosion that happened right after Moca had jumped on top of Tsugumi did it for her._

 _The shockwaves of the blast left tremors in the ground as a mushroom-shaped cloud of dust and debris rose high into the air. The familiar scent of a raging fire and ash was quick to reach the two girls, and all that Moca could do was hope and pray that she and Tsugumi would make it out of this mess in one piece._

 _Feeling as if years had passed since the explosion first rocked the world, and Moca and Tsugumi with it, Moca raised her head painfully to see if it was safe to get up again. The thing that she saw next was—._

* * *

Moca jolted up in a seated position, screaming her lungs out as the warm comfort that is her blanket drooped down around her. Feeling the wet fabric of her shirt cling onto her, Moca panted heavily as she felt the sweat drops fall from her face and into her lap.

It took her a full minute to realize where she was and what was going on.

"It's… just a dream… not real… everything is okay…" Moca whispered softly to herself as she wrapped her own arms around her in an awkward but surprisingly comforting way for her and slowly but surely started to regain her breathing. Even though she knew exactly how real her dream was, she kept repeating those words to herself over and over again in an effort to calm herself down.

And it was working. Her heart rate was dropping and stabilizing at about the same time as when Moca started to control her breathing better, and it was after that that she started to feel more comfortable with herself and where she was.

'I blanked out after we reached that café…' Moca thought to herself as she wiped the last of the sweat from her forehead using the back of her hand. Now being happier than ever that she always made sure she had a bottle of water on her nightstand, Moca twisted her body to try and reach for it when another thought popped up in her head, 'How did I get here, though? Tsugu is strong, but even she wouldn't have been able to carry me all the way to my—'

Moca's thoughts were interrupted when she heard the door to her room open and, when Moca turned her head in the direction of the door, the bedridden girl saw an unfamiliar person walked inside. A tall, mature-looking girl with flowing red hair that reached down to about her waist walked in with a small tray that was filled with a plate of pastries and a glass of milk in her hands. She looked as if she was busy with something that was on her mind but her face lit up in a warm and welcoming way that Moca almost forgot that she did not know who this person was in the first place. Almost.

"Ah, you're awake," the unfamiliar but surprisingly friendly girl said when she saw that Moca was looking at her. Without wasting another second, she turned her head to the opening of the door and shouted, "Tsugu! She's awake!"

Before Moca could process or do anything at all, she already heard the hurried footsteps in the corridor grow louder and louder. Sure enough and just as Moca had expected would happen, Moca's childhood friend rushed into the room not long after this mysterious redhead had called out to her.

Moca, seeing how out of breath Tsugumi looked, was about to comment on that knowing that she could lighten the mood by doing that if she did. Unfortunately for her, however, Moca was not fast enough as somebody had beaten her to it.

"Moca-chan!" Tsugumi exclaimed as soon as she saw Moca sitting in her bed, the relief could clearly be seen on her face. Stumbling slightly over the wooden floor of the room, Tsugumi made the usually nine-step journey from the door to the side of Moca's bed in only four before breathing out, "Are you all right? How are you feeling, Moca-chan?"

"Now now, Tsugu, I don't think you should be pushing her like that," the redhead said with a small smile, placing the tray that she was holding in her hands on Moca's nightstand before helping Tsugumi back on her feet. Once she had helped Tsugumi, she turned to Moca and said what was on her mind, "Having said that, I will be honest and admit that I am as curious as Tsugu is. Are you all right after all of that?"

"I think so…" Moca trailed off as she slowly raised her hand up to her head and rested her forehead on it. Moca tried to remember what had happened, she really did, but all that would come up in her mind was a big, fuzzy blur.

"You can't remember what happened this morning, can you, Moca-chan?" Tsugumi's worried voice shook Moca back to her senses, urging the girl with ivory-colored hair to look up at Tsugumi with big eyes. Even though Moca never gave Tsugumi a vocal reply, Tsugumi could already deduce as much from the reaction that she was getting, "As I thought… Moca-chan, I'm sorry."

"Tsugu's sorry…?" Moca repeated while blinking slowly as she tried to understand what was going on. She was drawing a blank quite quickly, however, and so had to ask the question that she knew her friend was already expecting to be asked, "What's going on? What happened?"

"Well… when we were about to enter that café that Himari-chan had told us about, Moca-chan… saw a different store in the area," Tsugumi began, her voice quivering and her eyes focused on something nonexistent to the right of Moca. Tsugumi knew that she couldn't keep stalling, not with Moca of all people, so she took a deep breath to try and steel herself for what was to come and blurted the next few words rather loudly, "Moca-chan saw a floristry!"

"A… florist… ry…" Moca murmured to herself, slowly but surely starting to zone out as the memories of earlier that day started to flood back in her mind. Before she had lost herself in her thoughts completely, Moca whispered, "And what… happened then?"

"Moca-chan collapsed…" Tsugumi admitted in a soft whisper, the volume of her voice only working to emphasize this fact. After some time had passed in which Tsugumi and Moca were both looking down in silence, the brunette tried to lighten the mood when she remembered that the two of them were not the only people in the room, "Ah, right, I almost forgot."

When those words reached their respective ears, both Moca and the redhead that had been silently standing by the side not knowing what to do looked up in shock. The redhead was faster with realizing what Tsugumi was trying to do and took the hint to walk closer to where Moca was sitting on her bed.

"Moca-chan, this is Udagawa Tomoe-chan," Tsugumi said as she motioned in the direction of the redhead. The redhead whose name was apparently Tomoe, in turn, waved at Moca who nodded in acknowledgment before she turned to Tsugumi again. Tsugumi understood the hint and continued, "When Moca-chan collapsed in the street, Tomoe-chan was so helpful and kind enough to give us a ride to Moca-chan's apartment in her car. Things would probably have been a lot worse had she not been there."

"It really wasn't much trouble, it was the least I could do," Tomoe said when she saw that Moca turned to look at her with big wide eyes. When Moca's expression did not change, despite the fact that Tomoe was certain that Moca would have had enough time to process what she had just said, the redhead asked the first question that popped up in her head, "Is something wrong?"

"You have a car?" Moca breathed out as she continued to look at Tomoe with big eyes. When Tomoe nodded in confirmation, albeit somewhat hesitantly so, Moca added, "Tomo-chin is so cool~!"

"'T-Tomo-chin'?" Tomoe repeated, visibly flinching at the sudden nickname that she was getting from Moca. Her reaction did not go unnoticed by either Moca or Tsugumi, however, and both girls were quick to turn to look at Tomoe. Unfortunately for the redhead, it was Moca who broke the silence first.

"What? Would you prefer having Moca-chan call you 'Udagawa-sama', then? Or perhaps 'Tomato-chin'?" Moca asked with a devious smirk whilst relishing the reaction of Tomoe that she was getting in response. Moca did not get to enjoy it for long as Tomoe recovered surprisingly quickly this time around.

"No, I think 'Tomo-chin' is fine," Tomoe said as she raised her hand in friendly offering. Moca took a second to look at the outstretched hand before looking back up at Tomoe curiously, so Tomoe took this as a cue that she could continue, "While I'm sure that we both would have liked the conditions in which we'd meet to be different, it was nice meeting you, Moca. And I hope that you will get better soon."

"Thank you, Tomo-chin," Moca said with a grateful smile, accepting the hand that she was offered and taking a moment to shake it. Before she let go, the girl sitting in bed added, "And thank you for giving Tsugu and Moca-chan a ride home. I'm not sure if Tsugu would be strong enough to carry poor Moca-chan all the way home~."

"Hey!"

"Again, it was the least that I could do to try and help out," Tomoe said with a smile, one that was a lot more sheepish than she would have liked as she had not expected to receive as much praise as she did. Turning to look at Tsugumi to see if she was all right, the redhead was pleased to see the motion of confirmation that she was receiving.

Instead, Tomoe ended up asking Tsugumi something else entirely, and one that seemed like it had caught Tsugumi off-guard if only a little, "Is everything going to be all right here?"

"I think it will be… what do you think, Moca-chan?" Tsugumi added that last bit while she turned her head in the direction of where Moca was in bed, curiously waiting for a reply from her childhood friend.

"We will be, I'm feeling a lot better and Tsugu should be able to help me if there is anything that I need," Moca tried to reassure Tomoe in as serious of a tone as possible, slowly flexing her fingers to see how her body would respond. Smiling a satisfied smile when she saw that her body moved exactly the way she wanted it to, she looked up at Tomoe and added, "Tomo-chin has somewhere else to go, doesn't she? You really don't have to feel like you have to stay here or anything, I really do appreciate everything that you have done for me already."

"In that case, I'll be taking my leave. My sister wants to have a sleepover at a friend of hers and asked me to drive her there," Tomoe said with a somewhat nervous smile, but felt a lot calmer when the other two girls motioned for her that it was all right to leave.

Having finished saying her goodbyes, Tomoe was walking around the apartment for a bit to try and gather all of her belongings. With the help of Tsugumi, she managed to get everything in very little time, allowing Tomoe to come by Moca's room to tell her something that she had forgotten to do so earlier.

"If there is anything that I can do for either of you, please don't hesitate to call me. I gave my number to Tsugumi so she knows how to reach me," Tomoe said in a voice that managed to sound both stern and gently at the same time. As Tomoe tried to reassure her new friends that they could contact her at any time, she was also busy putting on a white-colored jacket with black piping, cuffs, and buttons.

"We get it, Tomo-chin, and thank you," Moca said, almost sounding impatient as she waved off Tomoe's words with a playful motion of the hand. In a much more playful voice, Moca added, "Now go and hurry already, Tomo-chin's precious sister is waiting for her~."

"All right all right, I'm off," Tomoe said with a smile and a wave, closing the door gently behind her as she left the room. Tomoe's departure left an extended period of silence, but not an unwelcome one.

At least, the silence would have lasted longer had one of the two not broken it as soon as she heard the sound of Tomoe's car go off into the distance.

"You weren't being honest when Tomoe-chan asked you, I can tell, Moca-chan," Tsugumi said as a worried look adorned her features, turning to look at Moca silently. When her friend didn't respond to this in any way, Tsugumi took a deep breath and tried to reach her bedridden friend again, "Moca-chan, you—"

"I know, Tsugu."

It was three very simple words that were uttered by the bedridden girl, and three words that would not hold so much meaning under any other circumstance. Even so, it was these three words that truly shocked Tsugumi and what caused a shiver to run down her spine.

A cold, intensifying shiver that shook Tsugumi down to the core, rendering the poor brunette motionless for an extended period of time.

As Tsugumi tried to take the heaviness of those words in, Moca was trying to calm herself down to the point where she could give Tsugumi a fair and more honest response.

"I'm sorry, Tsugu, I didn't… I didn't mean to…" Moca said softly, allowing her words to trail off slowly as she looked away in pain. With a soft gulp, Moca added, "I didn't mean to—"

"I understand, Moca-chan," Tsugumi said with a warm and reassuring smile as she placed a gentle yet firm hand on Moca's left shoulder. Even though this was more an act of desperation than anything on Tsugumi's part, it actually did its job in helping to calm Moca down.

And this did not go over Tsugumi's head.

"Is there anything I can get for you, Moca-chan?" Tsugumi asked in a calm and gentle voice, turning to look at Moca in such a way that Moca knew Tsugumi would do everything she could to get what Moca wanted.

"If Tsugu could make me a cup of coffee, that would be Tsugurific," Moca said with a playful smile, the two girls ended up laughing cheerfully together for a little bit after that. As soon as Moca had stopped, she added in a more serious voice, "Top shelf in the third cabinet to the left, you can't miss it if you're in the kitchen. Feel free to get something nice for yourself, too, Tsugu. You deserve a treat as much as I do after today."

"Got it. Is there anything else I can get for you, Moca-chan?" Tsugumi asked as she jumped back on her feet, looking over her shoulder in time to see Moca shake her head in a silent reply. With a smile, Tsugumi nodded as she stretched her arms up high above her head before adding, "In that case, I'll go and make that coffee for you now. I'll be back in a few minutes."

And with that, Tsugumi walked in the direction of the door and silently left the room, leaving a pondering Moca sitting in bed with her thoughts. And it was as soon as Moca knew that Tsugumi had left the room that she finally broke down.

'Moca-chan, what are you doing? You need to get a grip already!' Moca thought to herself as she slapped her cheeks using both of her hands before she ended up staring at her open palms for a long time. As her breathing started to calm down enough for her to think clearly again, another thought started to creep into her mind.

'But… the events of that day still hit me hard to this day huh?' Moca thought to herself as her grip tightened around the blanket that had started to fall off her. Taking a couple of deep breaths to try and calm herself down, Moca unintentionally ended up recalling the memories of that day again. It was not a pleasant experience for the girl with ivory-colored hair…

Biting her lip to prevent herself from screaming out, afraid that Tsugumi might be able to hear her if she did, Moca instead dug her face in the blanket to try and muffle any sound that she would make. As she did this, Moca slowly managed to even her breathing enough to allow one last thought to pop up in her mind.

'Why?'

And as that question remained unanswered for the poor girl, the last thing that Moca's brain managed to process was the sound of the birds chirping right outside her window. Were they pigeons? Doves? Thrushes? Moca did not know and, as she slowly but surely started to black out again, she could not care less.

* * *

As Moca was fighting her own silent battles in her room, Tsugumi had not made a lot of progress with getting that cup of coffee that she had promised Moca earlier. As a matter of fact, Tsugumi had not moved a whole lot after she had left her friend's bedroom behind her at all.

Tsugumi was slumped down on the cold and hard floor, her knees pulled up to her chest and her back resting against the door that leads to Moca's bedroom. If Tsugumi were to focus a little bit, she would have been able to hear Moca squirm in her own little world in the other room. And on any other day, Tsugumi probably would have been able to hear one of her closest friend's silent struggles.

But today was not that day as Tsugumi had too many other things on her mind to even consider the possibility that Moca may have lied to her.

'Moca-chan is still affected by that day… I am her best friend and I didn't realize…' Tsugumi thought to herself as she dug her face more into the fabric of her pants while allowing her fingernails to dig into her skin. Not paying much attention to the pain that she was feeling in her arms, all Tsugumi could think of was how she was a bad friend. How she of all people should have noticed that something was wrong with Moca, but she of all people failed to do so.

"What kind of friend am I?" Tsugumi whispered to herself softly as she felt the familiar feeling of something cool and damp stream down the side of her cheek. Not even bothering to wipe it away, Tsugumi slowly managed to gather the strength to stand back up again as she knew she could not be keeping Moca waiting forever.

With a deep breath to regain her composure, Tsugumi opened her slightly reddened eyes again before looking at Moca's bedroom door one final time. Tsugumi could not help but feel a pang of hurt and pain wash over her, but it was different this time. It almost made her more motivated to do what she had set out to do.

'I'm sorry for being such a bad friend for you for so long, Moca-chan, but I promise I will make it up to you somehow,' Tsugumi thought to herself with a fire raging in her determination-filled eyes. With a deep breath and her mind made up, Tsugumi managed to tear her gaze away from the door and turn around, 'But there is something that I need to do before then.'

"Let's see…" Tsugumi muttered to herself as she entered Moca's kitchen not long after that, her cheeks already dried up and her eyes were slowly returning to the usual shade of brown that they always have been. After having given herself enough time to recover, Tsugumi had made her way to the kitchen where she was looking for the coffee that she had promised Moca earlier, "Top shelf… in the third cabinet…"

It didn't take long for Tsugumi to find the place she was looking for or for her to find the container of coffee. She would have gotten it a lot sooner, the brunette had noted with an indignant huff, if her friend had not placed it in the worst possible place imaginable: high.

Shaking those thoughts out of her head, Tsugumi had already started the coffee machine and waited for the device to work its magic. Now that she had done what she could and had some time for herself, Tsugumi's eyes slowly but surely wandered off in a certain direction without her realizing this. Unable to suppress her curiosity and realizing that the machine would need some more time to brew the coffee anyway, Tsugumi decided to take the bait and look for whatever it was that continued to grab her attention for so long.

It did not take Tsugumi very long to find the offending object, nor did it take Tsugumi very long to decide whether or not she wanted to pick it up and stare at it longingly.

It was a small picture frame; the very same picture frame that Tsugumi had seen earlier that day before she had gone out with Moca. As Tsugumi had expected, the picture in the picture frame was also the same as the one she had seen earlier, knowing full well that nobody would have been able to change it since she had seen it that morning.

The picture itself showed a group of about twenty girls standing in front of the entrance of a school, all of them smiling brightly and each of them clearly proud of something. It was the photo the class had taken together after they graduated junior high school and Tsugumi's eyes quickly landed on the face of one girl in particular in the picture.

However, something felt different about the picture frame after what happened, and Tsugumi knew this.

"I'm sorry I can't be the best friend that Moca-chan needs, things aren't the same without you here with us…" Tsugumi muttered as her grip tightened around the small object, already feeling tears welling up in her eyes that threatened to overflow once again. Somehow managing to bite them back, Tsugumi continued talking to herself with the picture frame in her hands as if there was somebody else in the room, "I need you, Moca-chan definitely needs you… and, most of all… we can't do this alo—."

Tsugumi was stopped from finishing her sentence when she heard the distinct clicking sound of the coffee machine, indicating that it had finished and that the coffee was ready to be brought to the bedridden girl. But that was not all that the sound had managed to accomplish.

With the coffee brewed, a warm and comforting aroma wafted from the filled cup and reached all the way over to where Tsugumi was standing in a matter of seconds. And, somehow, this reminded Tsugumi of something very important when she allowed this scent to embrace her.

"That's right… I'm not alone, am I?" Tsugumi asked nobody in particular with a smile on her face and her eyes closed, relishing and basking in the familiar scent of the coffee that she had made for her best friend. Deciding against making a cup for herself as she already received her treat and reward, Tsugumi slowly opened her eyes with a new sense of determination that she did not have moments ago.

"I'm sorry for doubting in myself, I'll do my best to live up to expectations!" Tsugumi exclaimed before she gingerly returned the picture frame where it belonged. As soon as she did this, Tsugumi was about to walk off to give Moca that cup of coffee that she had promised her when something hit her and urged her to turn back around.

"There's still something that I can do, right? It's not about whether I can or can't, is it?" Tsugumi asked with a warm smile on her face, her gaze landing and staying on one face in particular in the group photo. With a meek nod that was more to herself than the girl in the photo that she was talking to, Tsugumi added, "I'll do it. Like you said, what only I can do."

And with her mind finally made up, Tsugumi turned around fully to do what she had set out to do. To do what only she could do and show the world what Hazawa Tsugumi could really do.

* * *

 **And that wraps up today's chapter! I hope that you enjoyed it, please do remember to leave a review on your way out telling me what you thought (and perhaps what you think may happen next), and until next time in two weeks' time! Take care, everybody!**


	3. Reintroduction

**Here we are once again with the next chapter of this story! I hope you all are enjoying it so far because we are just getting started over here! And a long chapter this time around; it's not normally this long, but it felt too awkward to cut out anything so this is what we ended up getting (the actual target for chapters of this story is approximately 5000 words).**

 **Before we begin, a quick little thank you note goes to LightZephyr for beta-ing this chapter and helping me to make this story reach the potential that it can reach.**

 **Disclaimer's the same as the last two chapters: I do not own BanG Dream! Girls Band Party**

* * *

Three days have already passed since Moca had collapsed and lost consciousness in the street while going out on a stroll together with Tsugumi. Since then, Moca had spent most of her time in her apartment where she kept herself busy doing what Moca does best.

With Tsugumi coming over to visit her every single day, the two of them made sure that Moca got enough exercise and stayed healthy enough through these hard days. Moca still had a feeling that it was a way for Tsugumi to show that she wanted to help Moca, and Moca was almost convinced that it was some sort of apology to the girl with ivory-colored hair.

Today was going to be different, however. When Moca woke up in the morning and cursed the sun's light for waking her up at such a horrible time of the day, she saw that her phone had exploded with messages. It did not take too long for Moca to read through all of them and for her to plan out the rest of her day.

"Well, if Tsugu's off and busy with her work at her family's café, then Moca-chan will just have to disturb her there~," Moca said to herself in a surprisingly cheerful voice, one that even Moca was surprised to hear from herself; she wasn't normally this upbeat before eleven in the morning, after all.

Trying to shake these thoughts out of her head, Moca then turned to focus her attention on the clothes that she wore. Deciding against wearing the same clothes that she had worn the last time she went out with her childhood friend, Moca was now wearing a beige-colored long-sleeved shirt and blue pants with a light-blue newsboy hat sitting comfortably on top of her head.

"This should do just fine," Moca muttered softly to nobody in particular as she adjusted a dove-shaped pin on the side of her hat. As she did this, Moca was silently wondering how Tsugumi would react when she saw that Moca did not have a thrush-related joke to throw her way.

Snickering to herself and already trying to think up of a good comeback line when this topic would inevitably be brought up later, Moca looked around her room once again to see if she had forgotten anything important. Confident that she had not, Moca gently closed the front door, made sure to lock it securely and turned around.

It was a nice day, Moca had to admit this if only to herself when she got her first look at the outside world. The sun was starting to rise from Moca's left where it was just about visible from above the skyscraper-like buildings in its way. A light, zephyr-like breeze rustled the overhead leaves and made sure that Moca would not be overwhelmed by the warm air.

Unfortunately, she was not going out to enjoy the weather or the scenery. No, Moca had other things on her mind that she knew she wanted to be doing. With a determined nod and knowing exactly where she would be heading off to, Moca took a deep breath before she took the first step on her journey. The journey to where she knew Hazawa Tsugumi would be waiting for her.

* * *

The walk to the Hazawa Café was long and tiring but, surprisingly, not an unwelcome one. Contrary to what her friends may have thought, Moca had actually always cherished taking strolls through the city whenever she could and today was no different. There was something about letting your feet carry you while letting your mind wander that always brought Moca back to wanting to walk again.

There was only one problem with her taking the route she always took, and this was something that Moca had not realized until it was already too late: it meant that she would have to pass through that street again. Shuddering silently to herself as she suddenly felt a lot worse, Moca's eyes darted to the side automatically. And that was when she saw it.

That street. The very street that she had grown to hate and loathe so much now, even if it had meant the world to her only five years ago.

Shaking her head to try and regain her composure and get her bearings again, Moca quickly walked past the street in question before her memories and emotions could get the better of her again. She did not want a repeat of what happened three days ago and, knowing that Tsugumi or that Tomoe person were nowhere near her, Moca may not be as lucky as she was then.

With all of these thoughts swimming around in her head and her legs moving almost as if automatically, Moca soon found herself in another familiar place. Fortunately for her, this place was actually the exact place where Moca had wanted to be: the Hazawa Café.

'Or "the café of the Wing Swamp family",' Moca thought to herself before covering her mouth in an effort to muffle the snickers. As soon as she regained her composure, Moca looked up at the café again with a determined look in her eyes.

"All right…" Moca muttered softly to try and convince herself that what she was doing was the right thing, slapping her cheeks to get a grip. Taking a deep breath to calm her beating heart down if only a little bit, Moca gently pushed the glass door open and stepped inside.

The interior of the Hazawa Café was exactly how Moca had remembered it being; even if Moca had thought that it was a lot longer, it had only been about a week since she had last set foot inside the building.

The wooden pillars holding the roof up were as shiny and majestic as they always had been. A wide variety of paintings adorned the walls of the café and bringing forth a warm and welcome atmosphere to the room itself. What's more, the lights that the café used was basking the round tables and wooden floors in a warm orange light.

Moca had to work really hard to prevent a smile from tugging at the corners of her lips but it was already too late. She would have turned right around and walked out of the café again had it not been for the familiar voice that had called out to her.

"Welcome to the Hazawa Ca—ah! It is Moca-san! It is good to see you again, Moca-san!"

Knowing full well that she had already lost all hope of subtly leaving the café without anyone noticing that she had entered, Moca slowly turned back around to face who she knew was looking at her with a bright smile. A close friend and coworker of her childhood friend, Wakamiya Eve stood there with a radiant smile that blinded Moca and forced her to cover her eyes protectively.

Taking the risk of peeking through her fingers, Moca could see that the radiant and ever-so-cheerful Eve looked the same as always. Her pristine white-colored hair was tied in her signature braided twintails and the eighteen-year-old Finnish girl was wearing the standard outfit for workers at the café. This consisted of a multi-pastel-colored dress with the café's name imprinted on the front around her midsection as well as her back.

"How have you been, Moca-san?" Eve asked in a gentle and friendly voice as she looked at Moca with genuine curiosity in her eyes. As soon as Moca heard these words, she knew that she had to tell her the truth, but she was already beaten to it when Eve added innocently, "Are you perhaps looking for Tsugumi-san?"

"You know me so well," Moca said jokingly and in a sing-song manner before the two girls shared a laugh. Accepting the hand that she was being offered, Moca decided that she might as well be honest with Eve now that she knew what was going on, "Do you know where Tsugu is?"

"She should be in the back taking a break from her shift," Eve said as she turned her head back to look in that direction. Without missing a beat, Eve added, "Do you want me to go and see if she has some time for you, Moca-san?"

"That would be great, thank you," Moca said with a grateful smile before she watched Eve take her leave after making a small bow in Moca's direction. Thinking that sitting down at one of the tables in the café would be a bit much, Moca instead decided to lean against the wall to wait for her friend's return. As she waited, Moca faced the question that popped up in her mind and one that she knew she would have to answer before Tsugumi arrives, with or without Eve.

'Tsugu is going to come,' Moca thought to herself as she gritted her teeth silently and dug her nails into her left upper arm. Keeping the intrusive thoughts of how Tsugumi was pushing herself to support her out of her head, Moca ended up looking at a random spot on the ceiling, 'Isn't that right—?'

"Ah, Moca-chan!" a familiar voice reverberated through the hallway of the café and bringing Moca back to reality. When Moca looked up to confirm her suspicions, her friend was indeed standing right there, short brown hair and wearing the same outfit as Eve and all. Moca did not have a lot of time to say anything in response, however, as Tsugumi quickly added, "Not that I don't like seeing you or anything, but what are you doing here? Shouldn't you still be resting?"

"Come on, Tsugu, don't you have any faith in little old Moca-chan?" Moca asked in a deceptively sweet voice as she tilted her head to the side. It didn't take her very long to realize that this tactic was not going to be working with the person who knew her the longest so Moca dropped the act almost immediately. When she looked up at Tsugumi again, Moca said in a dejected but genuine voice, "I got bored at home and decided to come visit you here. Is that so bad?"

"It's not, but—" Tsugumi tried to reassure Moca only to get interrupted herself when the front door opened and two girls entered the café. Falling back into her usual role of a worker at the café, Tsugumi turned to greet the two newcomers when she saw who they were, "Ah, Himari-chan and Tomoe-chan! So many familiar people coming here today."

Moca turned around the moment that Tsugumi called out the names of the newcomers only to see that her friend was not lying; the two people that Tsugumi had mentioned had already walked inside. Moca had to quickly look away in an effort to hide the smile that had started to form, hoping desperately that she was not caught.

As she entered the café, Tomoe adjusted her dark-green jacket, in the process revealing the white blouse that she was wearing underneath. With her hair tied in a high ponytail and a brown belt keeping her purple skirt up, Tomoe radiated a strong aura of confidence and power that she was somehow missing when Moca had last seen her.

In stark contrast to the elegant Tomoe beside her, Himari was wearing a warm and comfortable-looking purple jacket over a crimson-colored shirt and a navy-colored skirt. As the short girl closed the door behind her, she adjusted the sunglasses on top of her head before she noticed that the two of them were not the only ones in the corridor.

"Tsugu and Moca! What a surprise!" Himari exclaimed in delighted shock when she recognized the two girls, having done so faster than Tomoe did. And it was at the moment that Himari's voice reached her ears that Moca knew that it was too late to run away. Moca turned back to look at the two newcomers in time to see Himari turn to look at Tsugumi, "I thought that your shift already ended by now, what are you still doing working?"

"Oh, I just finished my shift, actually," Tsugumi said with a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth as she took a peek back in the café. Nodding to herself after several seconds had passed as if to give herself some time to think over something, the brunette turned to the other three and said, "It's rude of me to make everyone talk while standing, and since we are all here why not take a seat inside?"

"Is that really okay?" Tomoe asked before she got weird looks from all of the other girls as a response. The elegant and proud Tomoe had the perfect response ready only a second later, "What?"

A short period of silence followed where Tsugumi and Himari turned to look at each other with uncomfortable looks on their faces while Moca excused herself as she covered her face. Tsugumi saw Moca leave in her periphery and decided that it may have been for the best as she took a deep breath and wanted to answer Tomoe's question. But somebody had beaten her to it.

"Tomoe, you know what this café's name is called, right?" Himari asked as she looked at Tomoe, silently hoping that she had chosen the right words for this conversation. When Tomoe had nodded slowly in response, Himari motioned to Tsugumi and added, "And what is Tsugu's last name?"

It took a moment for Tomoe to put the two pieces together, but once she did she tried to avoid the other girls in the hallway and save what was left of her pride. Without another word, Tomoe walked past both Himari and Tsugumi to enter the café and see Moca wave at her erratically from a table in the corner.

Not long after Tomoe had joined Moca at the table, Himari and Tsugumi joined them and they still had some time before Eve could come by their table. With nothing better to do, the four of them looked around somewhat awkwardly while thinking of ways to break the silence.

"S-So…" Himari began somewhat uncomfortably, flinching slightly when she saw that everybody had turned to look at her. With a soft and small gulp, Himari braced herself before she continued, "I know that we have all met each other before but how about we properly introduce ourselves again?"

"That's a good idea, Himari-chan!" Tsugumi exclaimed as she received nods of agreement from both Moca and Tomoe. Deciding that hoping for one of the others to make the first move was perhaps being a bit too hopeful, Tsugumi started the round of introductions, "So as hopefully everybody already knows, my name is Hazawa Tsugumi. Um… you can all call me Tsugu if you want to."

"I know Moca-chan from elementary and I lived next door to Himari-chan before I moved," Tsugumi said, motioning to her two friends as they nodded in both confirmation and acknowledgment. Tsugumi seemed like she was about to say something else when Himari picked up where Tsugumi had left off.

"I'm Uehara Himari and, as Tsugu said, was a neighbor of Tsugu a few years ago," Himari said with a smile in Tsugumi's direction before she turned to look at Tomoe and added, "And I know Udagawa Tomoe here because we go to the same university together."

"What Himari forgot to mention was that we are sharing an apartment together to save money," Tomoe said with an exasperated sigh, looking up in time to see Himari scratch her cheek sheepishly. Turning to Moca, Tomoe's features softened as she scanned the shorter girl with a careful eye, "If you are here now then that means that what happened the other day wasn't too bad? That's a relief knowing that you are all right."

"Yeah, of course! It'll take much more than that to keep me down~," Moca said with a somewhat flustered smile, clearly not having expected that Tomoe would worry as much as she seemingly did. Clearing her throat, Moca added in a significantly more serious voice, "I'm Aoba Moca and a childhood friend of Tsugu's as Tsugu has already said. It's nice to officially meet you two, even if we have already met before."

"Likewise," Tomoe said as she accepted the outstretched hand that Moca was offering her. As she did so, she saw that both Himari and Tsugumi were smiling at the interaction in front of them, clearly content at what they were seeing. Retracting her hand several seconds later, Tomoe turned to Tsugumi and asked, "You're the daughter of this café's owners, right? What do you suggest that we should get?"

* * *

"Here you go, Tomoe-san," Eve said as she placed Tomoe's cup of black coffee in front of her with a warm smile while bending her knees slightly. Feeling a sense of pride when she saw that she was receiving appreciative smiles for bringing their orders to them, Eve took a moment to look at everybody at the table before adding, "Is there anything else you may want?"

"I think that this is everything," Tsugumi said for the group as the others nodded in confirmation and agreement. Before Eve took her leave, Tsugumi reached for the sleeve of Eve's outfit and added with a smile, "Thank you for your hard work, Eve-chan."

Eve was about to say something in response to the praise when another customer waved her over. Understanding the gesture, Eve gave Tsugumi one last apologetic smile before she hurried off.

Tsugumi's attention was caught yet again when she heard Moca's voice right by her right ear.

"You two said that you attend this place called 'university' together, right?" Moca asked as she looked at both Tomoe and Himari curiously, clearly wondering what the answer could be and not being above asking them directly. As she asked this question, Moca raised the cup of coffee to her mouth and took a long sip from it.

"My parents have been pushing me to become a doctor for as long as I can remember…" Tomoe admitted, trailing off as she watched the surface of her drink in her cup with an almost longing gaze. A gaze that was trying to hide something more behind her eyes that she was not willing or able to show.

After some time had passed with Tomoe still not looking up at all and the other three not knowing how to break the silence, Tomoe finally stirred and returned back to the present.

"Sorry about that," Tomoe apologized with a sheepish and awkward laugh, straightening her back and scratching the back of her head. In an effort to try and remove the spotlight to somebody else, Tomoe turned to Himari and said, "S-Say, Himari, why don't you tell them what you are doing?"

"No, Tsugu will laugh at me!" Himari exclaimed before she realized her mistake. Looking at Tomoe with a small pout, Himari muttered, "You planned this, didn't you?"

The only response that Himari got was a triumphant grin from the redhead before Tomoe took another sip of her coffee and savored the taste of it. Himari watched Tomoe enjoy her drink for a handful of seconds before she admitted defeat and turned to Tsugumi and Moca.

"Promise you won't make fun of me?" Himari asked in a soft and surprisingly timid voice, eyeing both girls carefully and not taking her eyes off either of them before they nodded in confirmation. Taking a deep breath to try and calm herself down a little, Himari finally told her friends what she was doing, "I am studying to enter the fashion industry."

After she admitted to this, Himari shut her eyes tight and waited for the response she thought would happen. Seconds turned into minutes and Himari did not hear any reaction from either Tsugumi or Moca, so she opened her eyes curiously and asked, "Aren't you guys going to laugh at me?"

"Laugh at—what are you talking about, Himari-chan?" Tsugumi asked in shock before she realized what she was saying. Seeing that Moca was nodding in both agreement and reassurance gave Tsugumi the confidence that she needed to add, "What Himari-chan is doing is amazing! There really is no reason for you to be ashamed of what you are doing."

"Besides…" Moca added, picking up where Tsugumi had left off but trailing off as she looked at the swirling surface of her drink. Taking a moment to think of the right words to be saying at a time like this, Moca finally raised her head to look Himari in the eyes and continued with a smile tugging at the corners of her lips, "We need more people to do what you are doing, so good luck with what you are doing."

"Tsugu… Moca…" Himari trailed off while drying off the corners of her eyes with her handkerchief. Hearing a familiar sound come from her side, Himari turned to the last person of the group and said, "You knew that this would happen, too, didn't you?"

"I had a hunch," Tomoe said with a grin before she nodded in the direction of both Tsugumi and Moca. Lowering her cup back to the table and leaning forward slightly, the redhead added, "I know that Tsugu works at this café, her parents' café, but what do you do, Moca?"

"I eat the food and drink the drinks that Tsugu brings me on a silver platter," Moca replied without missing a beat, breaking into a grin of her own not long after. Understanding the look that she was getting as a sign that she should take the question seriously, Moca cleared her throat before saying in a significantly more serious voice, "I write stuff. There is this writing competition going on right now that promises to publish the book of the top three writers in the competition and I hope to jumpstart my career with this."

"You'll do just fine, Moca-chan, don't worry about it," Tsugumi said in a comforting manner as she tried to reassure Moca with a smile as soon as the brunette noticed that her friend was starting to look gloomy. When this didn't work, Tsugumi tried again, "I saw what you wrote and it is amazing! I am sure that it will all work out somehow!"

"Thanks, Tsugu, but just because you like it doesn't mean that it will win…" Moca muttered somewhat darkly before she noticed what she was doing. Raising her head and trying to brighten the mood, Moca said, "W-Well, with all of these amazing friends here, it really makes me miss the old days… what would it have been like if that person was here, I wonder…"

It took Moca exactly thirty seconds to realize that the others at the table were looking at her funny, and another five seconds for Moca to understand why.

"'That person'?" Himari asked as she looked at Moca curiously. Tomoe was sharing the same curious look as Himari had on her face, but refrained from saying anything as Himari had already done so for her. When Moca did not respond to her question, Himari tried to push a little more, "Who are you talking about, Moca?"

"Ah, that's—," Tsugumi tried to say and save Moca from the awkward situation she had found herself in, but somebody managed to interrupt the brunette before she could finish.

"Tsugu and I have a friend… a very close friend… and spending time with all of you made me think what it would be like if that friend was here, too," Moca said in an even voice, a fond smile on her lips and her eyes fading out as she remembered a time that has long since disappeared. Shaking her head slightly, Moca turned to look at Himari and Tomoe with an apologetic smile, "I'm sorry for thinking of something so randomly just now."

"No no, please don't apologize!" Himari said quickly, trying to wave off Moca's worries casually before she leaned forward and added, "But you did make me curious just now. Who is this friend of Moca and Tsugu and when can Tomoe and I meet them?"

"Well, the thing is—," Moca began with a shaky smile, forcing herself to raise her head and look at Himari as she said these words. Unfortunately for Moca, this effort of her was in vain as Tomoe suddenly jumped to her feet and was digging through her pockets, "Tomato-chin?"

"Sorry, I really need to take this. And stop calling me that!" Tomoe added that last bit quite angrily at Moca who just smiled sweetly. With an apologetic smile in the directions of both Himari and Tsugumi, Tomoe started to make her way out of the café while fumbling with her phone. Moca could have sworn that Tomoe mentioned a name and something about a burning mattress but failed to pick up anything else as the tall redhead had already left the building.

"Probably Tomoe's sister getting in trouble again…" Himari said with a sheepish laugh in response to the blank look that she was getting from both Moca and Tsugumi. None of them were able to say or do anything else, however, as Tomoe had already returned to their table.

"Sorry, but I have to get going. My sister managed to set fire to the mattress and needs my help to prevent long-term damage," Tomoe said with an annoyed and exhausted sigh as she pulled out a wallet from her pocket. Before Tomoe could open it and pay her part of the bill, a pair of hands had grabbed her hands and stopped her from doing anything. Confused, Tomoe turned to the person who had stopped her and asked, "What are you doing?"

"There will be no paying of this order from anyone, today is on the house," Tsugumi said as she looked up at Tomoe. When she saw that Tomoe wanted to open her mouth to protest, Tsugumi added with a gentle and warm smile, "Just think of it as a thank-you gift for what you have done for Moca-chan and me the other day, Tomoe-chan."

"All right if you insist…" Tomoe finally relented, but her hesitation and discomfort were plain as day. She tried to not let this get to her and instead turned to Himari before saying, "Ready to go?"

"Yup, hang on for a bit!" Himari said cheerfully, taking her cup of hot chocolate and downing the remainder of it in one go. Letting out a satisfied sigh and wiping the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand, Himari stood up and turned around to say her goodbyes to Moca and Tsugumi, "Thank you for the chocolate, Tsugu. And have a nice day!"

"You too, Himari-chan," Tsugumi said with a smile, waving until the familiar sound of the café's front door closing resonated through the café.

The departure of Himari and Tomoe did result in one unfavorable result, however: it left a heavy air of tension on the shoulders of Moca and Tsugumi who were still seated. Both girls knew about this, both girls wanted it to end, but neither girl knew how to try and save the situation that they found themselves in.

Finally, after several false starts and multiple intakes of air, Tsugumi opened her mouth without looking Moca in the eyes.

"So, Moca-chan… about what you told Himari-chan—," Tsugumi began but was ultimately interrupted yet again, this time by Eve.

"Um, Tsugumi-san?" Eve asked as soon as she had reached the table that Moca and Tsugumi had been sitting at all this time. With a worried look Eve looked at Tsugumi and said, "It is two in the afternoon, is it okay if I call it a day and head home now?"

"Ah, is it that late already?" Tsugumi cried out in shock, having completely lost all sense of time while having spent the time with Himari, Moca, and Tomoe. Looking at the big clock hanging overhead Tsugumi saw that Eve was right. Turning back to her coworker, Tsugumi said hurriedly, "Of course, of course; I will tell Papa that you went home already. Thank you for your hard work, Eve-chan!"

With a quick hug and murmurs of 'thank you', Eve bend slightly through her knees in a curtsy before turning around and headed off. Tsugumi was so busy watching Eve go that she did not hear that Moca had been calling out to her for the last couple of minutes.

"I said, Tsugu…" Moca enunciated each syllable by jabbing a finger in Tsugumi's back, finding great pleasure in seeing the brunette squirm to try and get away from the assaults. When Moca was certain that she had Tsugumi's full and undivided attention, Moca stopped and said in as serious of a voice as she could, "I actually came here to ask you for a favor, Tsugu."

"A favor?" Tsugumi repeated as she turned around to look at her childhood friend. Tsugumi knew better than to make light of the situation; Moca often joked about needing help and favors from others, but she rarely actually followed through with asking people for help no matter how much she may be needing it. With this in mind, Tsugumi grew more curious by the second.

"I want to go somewhere…" Moca began, not once looking away from Tsugumi or showing any signs of hesitation or fear; Moca had her mind all made up and Tsugumi knew this. After a second of contemplating what the right way to continue this would be, Moca added, "I want to go to that place, and I need you to come with me."

It took Tsugumi a moment to fully process what Moca was talking about and another to think of the place that Moca could possibly be talking about. And then it hit her.

"Moca-chan?! You want to go to _that_ place?!" Tsugumi exclaimed, her eyes widening significantly as the brunette almost jumped out of her seat.

Tsugumi either did not notice or chose to ignore all the stares that she and Moca were getting, instead fixating all of her attention on her childhood friend. If Tsugumi was hoping for a reaction from Moca, she would be disappointed.

"But, Moca-chan, that place is—," Tsugumi tried again as she scanned her friend's face to see if this was some sort of big joke. The brunette would have said more had she not heard somebody's voice reached her ears.

"Please, Tsugumi…"

Those words stunned Tsugumi, not only because it had been years since her childhood friend had called her that but also the tone in which it was said. It wasn't like Moca to sound so deflated. To sound so defeated.

Yet here she was, hearing Moca reveal this side of her that she barely ever revealed to the world.

Tsugumi knew what her answer would be when she saw a thin stream run down Moca's left cheek.

"Wait here, I will be right back after I have changed," Tsugumi said in a calm voice as she stood up, turning around and walking off before she heard or saw Moca's response.

This left Moca to wait at the table all on her own, alone with her thoughts.

* * *

 **And that wraps up today's chapter! Oh, for those new to my stories who only started reading with Scarlet Sunlight and don't know yet: Tsugumi's given name (i.e. Tsugumi) means thrush, which is a species of birds. Similarly, Tsugumi's family name means exactly what Moca was making fun of in the chapter (the first character of "Hazawa" meaning "wing" while the second means "swamp"). A common theme you will see in my writing is that I play around with the symbolic and literal meaning of the names of the characters (the ship name of Aoba Moca and Mitake Ran being a common and well-known example), so expect to see references like that often.**

 **Another quick notification is in regards to the fact that I will be switching time zones next week. This will result in my updates being shifted in terms of time of day (by approximately five hours as that is the jump that I will be making). This change will last until mid/late August 2018.**

 **I hope that you all enjoyed this chapter, please leave a review telling me what you thought, and until next chapter that will go live in two weeks from now! Take care, everybody!**


	4. The Path to the Past

**And here we are once again with the next installment of Scarlet Sunlight! I hope you are all enjoying this story so far because it is only going to get more… interesting, shall we say… anyways, a quick little reminder that I switched five hours' worth of time zones last week and, as a result, my update schedule may seem weird to some of you; it is still approximately the same time of day for me whenever these chapters go live.**

 **A quick special round of thank you goes to LightZephyr, who helped me with planning out today's chapter in addition to being a beta for it.**

 **Disclaimer's the same as always in that I do not own BanG Dream! Girls Band Party and, unfortunately, probably never will…**

* * *

 _"I want to go somewhere…" Moca began, not once looking away from Tsugumi or showing any signs of hesitation or fear; Moca had her mind all made up and Tsugumi knew this. After a second of contemplating what the right way to continue this would be, Moca added, "I want to go to that place, and I need you to come with me."_

 _It took Tsugumi a moment to fully process what Moca was talking and to think of the place that Moca could possibly be talking about. And then it hit her._

 _"Moca-chan?! You want to go to that place?!" Tsugumi exclaimed, her eyes widening significantly as the brunette almost jumped out of her seat._

 _Tsugumi either did not notice or chose to ignore all the stares that she and Moca were getting, instead focusing all of her attention on her childhood friend. If Tsugumi was hoping for a reaction from Moca, she would be disappointed._

 _"But, Moca-chan, that place is—," Tsugumi tried again as she scanned her friend's face to see if this was some sort of big joke. The brunette would have said more had she not heard somebody's voice reached her ears._

 _"Please, Tsugumi…"_

As Moca was waiting for Tsugumi to return back to her after having left to change to more casual clothes, Moca kept herself busy by twirling her teaspoon in her now empty cup of coffee. While the teaspoon moved around and around in the interior of the cup, Moca's thoughts went back to her earlier conversation with the shorter brunette.

But no matter how often Moca rewound that conversation back in her head, there was only one thing that she could think of.

'I am such an idiot…' Moca thought to herself, burying her face in the palms of her hands as she let out a soft groan. She did it again in only a week's worth of time, unable to hide her former self or keep her worries to herself. To Moca, knowing that she was a burden was the worst; knowing that she was making those around her worry only served to rub salt in Moca's wounds.

'Why am I like this?' Moca thought to herself as she gritted her teeth slightly whilst thinking back. This was not like her at all and she knew it; the Aoba Moca that everybody knew and loved being around wouldn't have made such a fuss over anything.

"She would have gotten through it without anyone knowing…" Moca muttered to herself as she shut her eyes tightly in an effort to recall the Aoba Moca that she wanted to be. Of course, because she did this she did not notice that somebody had joined her at the table she was seated at.

"Who would have gotten through what without anyone knowing?"

The gentle tone of the person who asked this question was enough for Moca to look up in shock. Not having expected to be seeing anyone at all, Moca was pleasantly surprised when she saw who was sharing the table with her.

"How long have you been here?" Moca asked the girl who was looking at her with a look that even Moca could not read. As she waited for a reply, Moca took a moment to quickly look around her in case others had noticed her. Much to Moca's relief, this did not seem to be the case, so with a sigh, she turned back to the girl in front of her in time to hear her response.

"Long enough for me to start to understand why Tsugumi-san said that she was worried about you," Eve said without any hesitation in her voice as she eyed Moca with a knowing look. Eve did not keep her scrutinizing gaze for long, much to Moca's relief, as she broke her gaze after several seconds. Before Moca could say something in response to what Eve had said, however, Eve added, "I will not ask you if you are all right because I know that you are not. Instead, I will ask you whether or not there is anything I can do for you, Moca-san?"

"Anything you can do for me?" Moca repeated, tilting her head slightly as she eyed the taller girl with a curious and somewhat dubious look on her face. When Eve did not respond to her, Moca continued by asking, "What do you mean by that?"

"Is it not obvious?" Eve asked with a straight face, looking at Moca and answering her question with one of her own. Seeing that Moca really did not get it, Eve sighed but tried to stay calm, "Look… Moca-san is close friends with Tsugumi-san, and Tsugumi-san is an important friend of mine as well. I will do whatever it takes to help Tsugumi-san, and if that means that I have to save Moca-san from herself then so be it!"

"Eve-chin…" Moca breathed out, looking at Eve with wide eyes as she let what the other girl truly sink in. After a few seconds had passed, Moca took a deep breath before turning to look at Eve again with a serious look in her eyes, "Promise you won't tell Tsugu?"

"If it is nothing life-threatening or dangerous, I promise I will remain silent," Eve promised, holding her hand up to show that she was being genuine. Moca did not respond right away after hearing this, but Eve did not break her pose. Eve's patience was eventually royally rewarded.

"It's just…" Moca began before trailing off as soon as she realized she had just guaranteed needing to give Eve a proper and thorough explanation. With a defeated sigh and taking a few moments to think of how to start her story, Moca eventually looked back at Eve and said with a small smile, "I appreciate the offer, Eve-chin, I really do, but I don't think that there is anything that you can do for me right now."

"Is that so?" Eve asked, visibly upset over the fact that she would be unable to help her friend. Moca saw this and was about to say something to reassure Eve when Eve nodded, "I will wait for the moment when Moca-san will come to me after she has thought of something that I can do for you."

"Eve-chin…"

Both girls looked like they were about to say something else to try and re-affirm their point, but it was at that moment that a group of girls entered the café and waved at Eve.

Looking somewhat dejected and disappointed that she was stopped from being able to try and help Moca out, Eve gave Moca an apologetic smile before she stood up and rushed over to the group of newcomers.

This left Moca alone with her thoughts where she could think back to the earlier events and how she was truly feeling. Because the truth of the matter was that even Moca did not know what she was feeling, being unable to find the right words to convey what she was thinking about.

Fortunately for Moca, she did not have to struggle with this for long as another familiar face appeared by the table.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Moca-chan," Tsugumi apologized as she adjusted the crimson-colored headband that she was wearing. Having swapped her family's café's outfit, Tsugumi was now wearing a yellow-colored sundress with a cardigan to help protect her from the cold air outside. Looking slightly uneasy at the situation that she had found herself in, Tsugumi fumbled around with her cardigan a bit before muttering, "So, Moca-chan… do you want to sit down and talk about things or would you rather head over to that place right away?"

"We can talk while we are on our way there, right?" Moca looked up at Tsugumi, looking for the confirmation that she so desperately craving. When Tsugumi gave her exactly that in the form of a small but determined nod, Moca added in a much softer tone, "Then let's go."

Following Moca through the café and out through the front door, Tsugumi was surprised to see how the weather had changed since Moca had arrived at the café without either of them having realized this. Instead of a brightly lit sky with no clouds above them, the two friends were greeted with an ominous blanket of low-hanging dark clouds and a wind that was anything but comforting.

Shuddering at the thought of having to go through the city with this weather, Tsugumi quickly checked her purse to make sure that she had brought an umbrella before following Moca down the street.

"Did you know that those clouds can hold hundreds of tons of water?" Moca asked Tsugumi off-handedly as she eyed one cloud in particular. Shaking the thought and the memory of what the shape of that cloud reminded her of, Moca tried to lighten the mood a bit by saying, "Can you imagine how many cups of coffee you can make with the water in just one cloud?"

"Enough to keep Moca-chan satisfied for a week?" Tsugumi asked with a small smirk, eyeing Moca as she sidestepped a girl with long teal-colored hair walking her dog.

"Nope~," Moca grinned when the two of them managed to walk side-by-side again two minutes later. When Moca saw the surprised look on Tsugumi's face, Moca grinned even more, "More like three days~!"

"Come on now, Moca-chan," Tsugumi laughed when she heard Moca's response, "I know that Moca-chan likes her coffee, but even you wouldn't be able to drink that much in just three days."

"Only one way to find out then~," Moca grinned and the two of them broke into a laugh. When they had settled down again and had reached the bus stop where they had to go, Moca added softly, "Thank you for doing this for me, Tsugu."

"You're welcome," Tsugumi nodded before a thought popped up in her mind. Taking a few seconds to think of the right words to be asking this, Tsugumi turned to look at Moca and asked, "What made you want to go there anyway, Moca-chan?"

"Didn't you feel it when Tomo-chin and Hii-chan were there?" Moca asked Tsugumi in a serious tone. When Tsugumi was not responding to her, Moca turned to look at Tsugumi only to see a blank look on the brunette's face. Moca would have said more but their bus decided that it was at that exact moment that it should stop by their stop. Looking away and getting ready to board the bus, Moca added, "I'll tell you when we're on it."

Leading the way once again, Moca paid the bus fare for the two of them before heading to the girls' favorite seats: near the back. With Moca sitting by the window and Tsugumi on the aisle seat, the two of them were comfortable until the bus rocked to a bumpy start.

Trying to ignore the bumpy road, Moca was the first to break the silence.

"Being with Tomo-chin and Hii-chan…" Moca began before trailing off and looking out the window with an almost bored look on her face, Moca found that Tsugumi did not try to interrupt her. Moca could not tell how grateful she was for this, so instead decided it would be best to continue telling what she had felt, "It felt as if we were with her again… as if these past three years didn't exist and we have been laughing all along."

"Moca-chan…" Tsugumi breathed out, looking at Moca while wondering how much her friend must be suffering right now.

'But not alone… not anymore!'

"I am here for you, Moca-chan, please don't forget that," Tsugumi said in a gentle yet confident voice, holding Moca's hand to try and get Moca's attention and give her friend the comfort that Tsugumi knew she so desperately needed. It worked.

"Thanks, Tsugu."

The remainder of bus ride went silently and without a hitch, although there was one incident where the bus driver had to make a hard brake which forced both girls off their seats.

About thirty minutes after they boarded the bus, the two girls left. This was not their final spot, but since no buses would drive closer by their final destination the two childhood friends would have to make do with walking from this point onwards. Neither of them really minded this, however, and they set out soon after.

The air around this part of the city felt a lot different than it did where Moca and Tsugumi came from, but despite this fact, the clouds that were precariously hanging low were still threatening a shower. Because of this looming threat, the two girls made their way through the streets at a faster pace than they normally would have.

"Do you want to make a stop at the usual place, Moca-chan?" Tsugumi asked as soon as they turned a corner and a familiar store came into view. Looking how her friend's expression change from her peripheral vision made Tsugumi smile, "Go ahead, I will wait outside."

"Are you sure?" Moca asked but only got a nod in response from her friend. She tried to be sounding cool and aloof, but Tsugumi was able to see right through the façade: if there was something that Moca would want more than visiting that place again it would be to go to that store once more.

"It's okay to be a little bit more honest, Moca-chan," Tsugumi laughed at Moca's expense, gently but firmly pushing her childhood friend forward to the store's open door. When Moca turned her head around to look at Tsugumi again, Tsugumi merely smiled and said, "Go. Moca-chan has been looking forward to it, right?"

"Thank you, Tsugu," Moca muttered to herself as she went inside and left Tsugumi waiting outside. Tsugumi was right with one thing, though: Moca certainly did look forward to going to this store again, but why Tsugumi was waiting outside instead of entering with her was beyond her.

It was just a small store that sold things ranging from simple writing supplies to tools to cooking equipment, but what Moca was really here for…

And there it was, right at the edge of the store. Seeing them at their faithful place once again was both comforting and reassuring for Moca to find out, knowing that at least this part of her world was still the same as always. At the same time, it also threatened to make lost memories resurface once again.

Shaking her head vigorously to try and stay the better of her thoughts, Moca grabbed a handful of the items that she had been staring at for a couple of minutes, headed to the cashier to pay her goods and stepped outside. Not even a second after she had done this, Tsugumi was already by her side.

"So, did Moca-chan get what she wanted to get?" Tsugumi asked with a bright smile. Moca raised the plastic bag that she did not have prior to entering the store and shook it, eliciting an even brighter smile from Tsugumi.

Tsugumi was about to walk off and start making her way to their real destination when she felt something pull her back. Looking back curiously, Tsugumi saw that Moca had grabbed a handful of her cardigan and kept her from moving.

"What is it, Moca-chan?" Tsugumi asked as she turned around, glad to see that Moca's grip on her loosened and she was allowed to be free again. This kind of behavior was not common for Moca to exhibit, so even Tsugumi did not know what to make of this.

"There is actually another store that I want to visit before we head to that place," Moca muttered softly whilst not even once looking Tsugumi straight in the eyes. Tsugumi felt Moca's hesitation as she took a step forward and placed both of her hands on Moca's shoulders.

"Moca-chan. I am here for you and we're on this trip for you," Tsugumi began, making sure that Moca had a good view of her face to show how much Tsugumi meant every single one of her words. After giving Moca a moment to process what she had said, Tsugumi added, "So if there is another store that Moca-chan wants to go to then we will go there, all right?"

"Okay…" Moca nodded with a smile.

* * *

" _This_ was the store you were talking about?!" Tsugumi exclaimed only ten minutes later, staring up at the offending storefront in question before turning to Moca who was standing beside her, "Moca-chan!"

"You said, and I quote…" Moca began with a sly smirk, taking out her phone and pressing a few buttons. Tsugumi looked over curiously at what her friend was doing but flinched when she saw that Moca was in the voice recording application. Before Tsugumi could stop her, Moca had already pressed the rewind button and held her phone up so everyone in the vicinity could hear it.

'So if there is another store that Moca-chan wants to go to then we will go there, all right?'

A few moments passed and, with Moca not having received the reaction that she was hoping for, decided to look at Tsugumi to see that she was shivering.

"To think that Moca-chan recorded that…" Tsugumi muttered to herself as she covered her face with both of her hands. No matter what Moca did or said for the next ten minutes, Tsugumi would not budge from her position like that.

"If it makes you feel better, Tsugu," Moca began as she walked over to her friend and hoisted her back on her feet, deciding that it would get dark out if they did not continue moving. Neither of them really had a curfew but Moca knew how Tsugumi was with staying up late. So with that in mind, Moca brought Tsugumi to a different store than she had been sitting in front of and said, "This is the store I wanted to go to, and I need your help to choose the right thing. Poor Moca-chan doesn't know which one is best and who else to ask but the most Tsugurific of all Tsugurific Tsugus who ever Tsugurificed?"

"…That did not make any sense at all, Moca-chan," Tsugumi said bluntly, looking at her friend with a deadpan. Knowing better than to try and make sense of Moca's words, Tsugumi instead decided to step inside, "Let's just get this over with…"

"Yay~ Thank you, Tsugu~!" Moca cheered as she bounced into step beside her childhood friend and starting to look around at the many items that the store had on display.

The store in question seemed to focus on a lot of things that were made with woods as that was all that both Moca and Tsugumi managed to find. From wooden dolls to wooden ornaments to even wooden figures of animals and even people, the two girls were mesmerized by every little detail in them when Tsugumi realized why Moca had dragged her into this store, to begin with.

"If you brought me here asking me which one to get…" Tsugumi began before kneeling down to inspect the goods in front of her. Moca was standing by Tsugumi's side looking over the items as well but was still listening to every word that Tsugumi was saying, "You know that I don't have a lot of knowledge on this either, right?"

"I know, but I wanted another person's opinion," Moca admitted as she allowed her finger to trace over the design on one of the items the two girls were looking over, "Besides, this is not only something for me but for you, too."

Moca heard a long, dejected sigh beside her, and when she looked up to see what was happening Tsugumi had already picked out a seemingly random pair of items and headed to the cashier.

"Let's go with these then," Tsugumi said to Moca and Moca nodded in agreement. Moca would never have admitted that that was actually the very pair that she was contemplating getting herself as well.

Once their purchase was made and the two girls were standing out in the open again, Moca took out her phone once again. When Moca saw that Tsugumi gave her a weird look Moca quickly said, "Don't worry don't worry, this is not a recording of something that you have said."

"Then what are you doing, Moca-chan?" Tsugumi asked, still eyeing the device in Moca's hand carefully and suspiciously, not trusting it after what happened the last time that Moca had taken it out.

"I am looking for the fastest way to get there," Moca said simply, holding her phone in such a way that Tsugumi could see as well. Much to the brunette's surprise, that was exactly what Moca was doing as the map application on Moca's phone was open and active.

"It says we should go over there and take the second left… and then we should be able to see it…" Tsugumi muttered softly as she looked at Moca's phone with Moca nodding in confirmation. With that, Tsugumi took a step back and added, "Wow, I didn't know that we were this close already."

"Neither did I, but let's go," Moca said, putting her phone back in her pocket and using her free hand to grab Tsugumi's wrist and pull her along. Now knowing exactly where they were supposed to be going, Moca quickly made her way through the streets.

Sure enough and as the application on Moca's phone had told them, the moment the two girls turned the corner was when they saw it.

Moca stood still on the ground, almost as if she were rooted to it and frozen in place, so Tsugumi took a step closer and looked at Moca with an understanding look on her face.

"I know that it is hard, Moca-chan… but we have to do this eventually…" Tsugumi said softly as she stood by Moca's side and tried to reassure her. When she saw that this wasn't quite working the way that Tsugumi had hoped that it would, she added, "Know that I am here for and with you, Moca-chan."

"Tsugu…" Moca breathed out as she looked at her friend in time to see the brunette nod her head. Looking away from Tsugumi before continuing to talk, Moca continued, "It's ironic, isn't it? We of all people took so long to get here…"

"It's not like either of us had it easy, Moca-chan," Tsugumi tried to reassure her friend yet again. With a deep breath, Tsugumi added, "School really didn't help either of us, my parents' café really started to take off after that other café down the street closed down, and don't think that I forgot that attempt that you made, Moca-chan."

"Is that… still bothering you?" Moca asked, trying to shift the center of attention on something else. She did not want to think about that fateful day last year, on the thirty-first of December. She even still had that bag of concentrated nitrogen gas still at home, not knowing how to explain to others should they find out that she had something like that.

"A little bit," Tsugumi admitted with a sad smile but quickly added to try and reassure her friend, "But that was so long ago now, right? Moca-chan doesn't feel like doing that again, right?"

"No, I don't," Moca said in a calm voice, knowing that she couldn't give up everything that she had today. With a shaky intake of breath, Moca nodded, more to herself than to her friend, before saying, "Let's go."

"Right!"

The next few hundred meters that the two girls walked were rather uneventful, but the two girls had preferred it that way. Before too long, the two of them finally arrived at their destination: a grassy area that was surrounded by a tall fence made out of barbed wire to keep intruders out. There was only one way in and out, and that is where the two of them headed off to.

What neither girl would have expected to see was that somebody was standing at the entrance. And not just anyone, either.

"Is that…?" Tsugumi began when she saw the figure in front of them who was seemingly walking towards her. The person in question was a short but mature-looking young woman with flowing light purple-colored hair that reached well below her waist. A young woman who was wearing a dark green jacket and a black skirt that was held up by a black belt, the woman turned in time to see both Tsugumi and Moca walk towards her.

"Minato Yukina-senpai…"

"Aoba-san, and Hazawa-san," the young woman, Minato Yukina, said as she lowered her head in the direction of the two girls. After they looked eye-to-eye again, Yukina was the first to broke the silence, "So if the two of you are here then I am assuming that you are here for her as well?"

"Yes, we are," Moca said with a curt nod before looking at the older woman, "Have you already gone there, Minato-san?"

"Unfortunately, I have not," Yukina said with a small shake of her head, looking away with a dejected look on her face before adding, "As I just arrived here, I got a call that was mainly just screaming about a burning mattress. I have no idea what is going on, but they asked me to go there to see if I can help them at all."

'A burning mattress? Isn't that the same as…' Moca thought to herself, but her train of thoughts was broken when Yukina had walked forward enough to stand in between Moca and Tsugumi.

"Good luck, Aoba-san. Hazawa-san. I will be taking my leave here. Send her my regards as well when you see her and tell her that I will visit her personally soon."

And before either Moca or Tsugumi could say anything at all in response, Yukina was already three blocks further and out of view.

"That was… interesting…" Tsugumi chuckled softly as she looked in the direction that Yukina had walked off to before turning back to Moca, "Anyway, Moca-chan, are you ready?"

Moca did not answer Tsugumi directly, instead, she was taking several deep breaths to try and calm her nerves. After the ninth breath, Moca nodded and was the first to take the first step into the park.

And then it happened. The air felt ten times heavier than it did usually, a freezing cold chill moved through Moca's body from top to bottom and Moca had to use every ounce of willpower to stop herself from screaming out loud.

"Moca-chan!" Tsugumi cried out, dropping the things that she was carrying and rushing over to where Moca stood frozen on the ground. Not knowing what else to be doing, Tsugumi grasped both of Moca's upper arms and shook them, "Moca-chan, snap out of it! It's okay! I'm here! Moca-chan!"

Even though Tsugumi's actions managed to help calm Moca down considerably, it did take some time until Moca was finally able to speak or move again.

"What… was that…?" Moca muttered softly as she tightened her grip on the plastic bag that she was holding. With Tsugumi coming over again after retrieving the items that she had dropped, Moca repeated the three words that she had just said.

"These places are always known to hold some sort of… powerful, mystic and spiritual energy," Tsugumi said after taking a moment to think about it, guiding Moca to a nearby bench so she could sit down there. After making sure that her friend was all right, Tsugumi stood back up again and pointed at something a little further away, "There is a tap not too far from here, I'll go and get some water and I will be back before you know it, okay, Moca-chan?"

Receiving a weak nod to tell her that she was going to be okay, Moca watched with glazed out eyes as Tsugumi rushed off in the direction she was pointing at earlier. A few minutes later, Tsugumi was back and handed Moca a bottle of water that Moca gratefully accepted.

"Do you know where it is, Moca-chan?" Tsugumi asked as she looked around her, feeling slightly lost at the sheer number of them around them. Much to Tsugumi's relief, however, Moca nodded after having downed half of the bottle in one go and stood up.

"Follow me."

The walk that followed soon after was long, silent and heavy, and with every single gravestone that the two girls were passing the heaviness in the air started to weigh on their shoulders more and more.

Finally, after what could very well have just been twenty-seven seconds, the two girls came across a clearing that was covered by the shade of the trees that grew around it. In the middle of the clearing stood a single gravestone, and both girls gulped for different reasons when they saw it.

The gravestone was corroded and covered in plants and dirt as well as fallen petals around it. However, this did not take away the fact that there were two words on the nameplate of the tombstone itself. Two very specific words that were the whole driving force for Moca and Tsugumi going out of their way to get to this place.

The nameplate read the name of a person. And that person's name was 'Mitake Ran'.

* * *

 **I suppose that this ending sort of confirms what the two reviewers of chapter 2 (at the time of writing this chapter) concluded… I do find it amusing how both of you went straight to the "Ran is dead" theory after only two chapters into the story and were not even considering other options such as that Ran could have transferred to another place, for example. Oh well, kudos to you both!**

 **As always, I hope that you enjoyed today's chapter and please do tell me what you thought about it in a review. It means a lot more than you might think.**


	5. Stroll Down Memory Lane

**Not much that I have to say right here at the start other than that I hope that everyone is enjoying the story so far and will enjoy this chapter.**

 **Special thank you goes to LightZephyr for helping me with the beta-read as always.**

 **Disclaimer's the same as always as well.**

* * *

The gravestone was corroded and covered in plants and dirt as well as fallen petals around it. However, this did not take away the fact that there were two words on the nameplate of the tombstone itself. Two very specific words that were the whole driving force for Moca and Tsugumi going out of their way to get to this place.

The nameplate read the name of a person. And that person's name was 'Mitake Ran'.

The silence that followed lingered in the air as the two childhood friends looked at the gravestone together. This was the first time in years that the two of them had even managed to pay this particular gravestone a visit, but even so, it still felt as if it were yesterday. As if it were yesterday when their closest friend was still alive.

"Moca-chan…" Tsugumi breathed out, finally breaking the silence after several minutes had come and gone. Tsugumi was ready for the worst, which was exactly why she wasn't surprised to not get any response from her childhood friend; Tsugumi was just disappointed that she couldn't do anything to help. That all she could do was stand there and watch helplessly.

To Moca, it could have been as if Tsugumi was not even there. Moca's attention was all focused on the grave in front of her as she slowly but surely drowned in the memories of the times that they had lost. This was until a gentle shake of the shoulder stirred Moca back to reality.

"Moca-chan, I'm going to fill the bucket with water at the nearby tap," Tsugumi said in a calm and gentle voice, holding the newly purchased wooden bucket and ladle in one hand and motioning in the direction of the tap with the other. When the brunette was sure that Moca had heard her, she smiled and added, "How about you start with getting rid of all the plants around Ran-chan's grave while I am gone?"

"All right…" Moca muttered softly, but Tsugumi was already satisfied enough with this reaction from her. Or, rather, with getting a reaction out of Moca at all, to begin with.

After having made sure that Moca would be all right if she were to leave her behind for a bit, Tsugumi took the bucket with her and walked off to get it filled with water. In the meantime, Moca was opening a big plastic bag where she would throw all the plants in before getting to work by getting rid of those plants.

It was a tedious task indeed, with some plants truly struggling to stay in the soil and other plants reaching down into the ground with their long and thick roots, but Moca did not give up. One by one, Moca pulled out the plants that surrounded the grave, threw the offender into the bag that she had prepared with a grimace, smoothened out the soil to make it look neat again and went on to the next plant.

There were more plants to unearth than Moca thought there would be and she was already starting to tire out. When there were about twenty plants left around the grave, Moca felt somebody kneel down beside her and help her out. Moca didn't even need to look up to find out who had just joined her.

"The bucket is filled and we can use it to clean the tombstone when we are done with this," the voice of Tsugumi came from Moca's right as the brunette was busy pulling out a particularly annoying plant out of the ground. Once the plant in question was properly disposed of in the bag, Tsugumi turned to Moca and asked, "Do you want to clean the tombstone, Moca-chan?"

"If you don't mind…" Moca said meekly as she stood up and started gathering all the fallen leaves as well. Soon enough, and with the extra pair of helpful hands from Tsugumi, the area around the grave was free from all plant life as Moca moved on to the next step.

Tsugumi walked back to where she had placed the bucket and ladle, having made sure they had been placed far away enough so the two girls would not accidentally knock it over while cleaning the grave, and handed them over to Moca. Moca accepted them with a grateful but small nod and started work.

Using the ladle, Moca poured the ice-cold water over the tombstone until every square centimeter was covered. Once this was done, Moca took out a small sponge and started to scrub all the dirt and grime away while Tsugumi waited in the background. Moca would occasionally be pouring more water when she thought that it was necessary to do so and was thankful that they got a large bucket; the bucket had been emptied in almost no time at all throughout the cleaning process.

"Here you go, Tsugu," Moca said, handing the now-empty bucket back to Tsugumi who took them without a word. As soon as the bucket was passed on, Moca took the bag that she had been carrying since the two girls' first stop and opened it. Moving her hands gingerly so as to not accidentally damage them, Moca lined up a wide variety of incense packs in front of her before she stopped moving.

"Is something wrong, Moca-chan?" Tsugumi asked as soon as the pause in Moca's actions was too long to be accidental. Looking between the thoughtful look on Moca's face and the lined up incense, Tsugumi thought that she understood what was wrong, "Did you get the wrong incense?"

"Get the—what? No, that's not the problem," Moca said, slightly taken aback by the question before holding up two different packs of incense in particular and turning to Tsugumi with a helpless look on her face, "Tsugu, heeeeeeelp…"

When Tsugumi finally realized what was bothering her friend she had to use all her willpower to keep a straight face. She knew that she couldn't keep it up for long, so Tsugumi randomly picked one of the two that her hand naturally gravitated towards and turned around before breaking into a big grin.

Moca remained oblivious to Tsugumi's true reaction as she didn't even see the brunette turn away, having instead focused all of her attention on the pack of incense that Tsugumi had chosen. A pack containing purple-colored incense and smelled strangely like lavenders.

Shrugging and deciding that she was not opposed to the suggestion of her friend anyway, Moca opened the pack and gently placed all the incense in the incense holder by the grave. Once the incense sticks were securely placed, Moca took another bag and started placing white chrysanthemum and orchid flowers on the grave. Moca did not place the flowers down randomly, either; she carefully designed the pattern in such a way that they spelled Ran's given name if looked at in the right way.

"That's really nice, Moca-chan," Tsugumi said in a gentle voice as she kneeled down by Moca's side after Moca had finished decorating the grave. Placing a gentle hand on Moca's shoulder and digging in her pockets for a lighter, Tsugumi added whilst offering the small object, "I am sure that Ran-chan would appreciate it, but there is one thing left to do, right?"

"Right…" Moca nodded without showing any signs of hesitation. Silently accepting the lighter from the person who had been through everything with her, Moca used it to light up the incense one by one. Moca did not want to hold on to the lighter for very long, however, and quickly returned it back to its rightful owner.

Before too long, the comforting and familiar scent of lavender trickled the two girls' nostrils. This sensation helped the two of them to calm down and, more importantly, allowed them time to think of what was happening. Of what has happened several years ago.

"Say, Moca-chan…" Tsugumi whispered after some time had passed and neither girl had moved at all. Moca nodded just as silently, which prompted Tsugumi to continue, "How long has it been since… since…"

"About three years…" Moca said in a voice that was devoid of emotions, which startled Tsugumi. What surprised Tsugumi even more was the fact that Moca's eyes lacked the usual spark and light behind them; now they only looked like dull orbs of nothingness.

"Moca-chan?" Tsugumi asked carefully, eyeing her friend while being fully aware that any wrong move could be fatal. Taking a deep breath, Tsugumi tried to reach her friend once again, "Moca-chan, is everything—?"

"Yeah, I am fine," Moca replied but the tone that she used implied something else entirely. Moca's voice was dull and distant, and even though she tried to hide it to the best of her abilities both girls knew that it was a futile effort.

"I'll… wait a little bit away so Moca-chan can have some time with Ran-chan, okay?" Tsugumi asked while getting back on her feet, stretching her arms all the while. When the brunette saw that Moca nodded in response she picked up the bags with waste to dispose of them and gave Moca some privacy with Ran.

It wasn't long until Moca was all alone crouching down by the tombstone. As this realization started to dawn upon her, Moca let out a deep breath that she didn't know she was holding and lowered her guard. Tsugumi wasn't around her to see the change in Moca's stature anymore.

Even so, Moca remained unmoving as she let all her thoughts and emotions wash over her as her hand stroked the stone in front of her. As she did this, a chill breeze started to pick up that caused a shiver to run down Moca's spine; it was because of this that she knew that she should do something…

"It has been a while has it not, Ran?" Moca said without looking at the tombstone, instead finding a faraway tree a lot more interesting for some reason. Shaking her head slightly to get back to reality, Moca finally looked at the last reminder of the existence of her fallen friend, "I'm sorry for not coming to see you a lot since… that day… but… I can be honest with you, right?"

Taking a few seconds as if to wait for a response that she knew would never come, Moca shifted slightly in her position before she picked back up where she had left off.

"Moca-chan and Tsugu have been through a lot since that day… since… we lost you…" Moca admitted with a sad look on her face while thinking back to the things that had transpired over the course of the past three years. Deciding against telling Ran of her breakdowns or the fact that she bought a bag of concentrated nitrogen not too long ago, Moca instead tried to shift the focus to something else, "Hey, Ran? Do you know what? Moca-chan has picked up a new hobby since you started to watch us from above. Moca-chan is sure that you will be happy when you hear what that hobby is. Do you have any idea what it could be~?"

A part of Moca, the reasonable one, was well aware that she should know better than to expect a response from somebody who was not physically there anymore. Even so, Moca couldn't help but yearn for things to be the same as always. For things to return to the way they were three years ago.

Understandably for the grieving girl, there was no response from anyone and Moca had to eventually cave in and break the silence herself.

"Moca-chan picked up Ran's hobby, and Moca-chan has to admit that it is a lot of fun. Moca-chan finally understands why you buried your face in that notebook of yours for so long," Moca said with a bright smile as she motioned with her arms widely and ecstatically, the image of Ran desperately reaching for her notebook that was held just out of reach flashing before Moca's mind eye once again. Unfortunately for her, this was not the only memory that resurfaced as the words left her mouth.

Moca was instantly greeted by memories of the times that she had lost forever; times when she could nag Ran while Ran was hiding in a closet or off in her little corner writing in her trusty little notebook. The times when Moca got the opportunity, whether with consent from the original writer or not, to read some of Ran's writings before teasing her friend about it.

The times when Moca was still genuinely happy on a regular basis.

"I know Tsugu is… Tsugu is doing her best to help support me… but it just isn't the same without you…" Moca whimpered as the familiar feeling in her eyes started to threaten to overwhelm her once again. Despite the girl's best efforts, she eventually did break down and it was only a matter of time until her desperate wails filled the air around the graveyard.

It first began as soft, broken whimpers that she still tried to desperately stifle in case someone would hear her, but before long Moca was full on bawling. All the sadness, all the pain, all the feelings of despair and desperation and helplessness manifested themselves in the form of Moca's voice as Moca sat there for what could have very well been an eternity. The only thing that was stopping Moca from lying on the dirty soil below her, aside from the fact that that would mean needing to go to the Laundromat later, was the fact that the tombstone was there; a strong, rigid object that Moca clung onto as if it were her lifeline.

It had been three years since the day that Moca lost one of her most important friends, and while it had hurt back then Moca had been convinced that she had finished grieving. That she had come to terms with the fact that she could only rely on herself and Tsugumi from then on.

But here she was, sitting by the grave of her friend. More than half an hour had already passed and Moca still had yet to recover from breaking down; every time when she was about ready to try and regain her composure again she was swept away in another tidal wave of emotions.

And every single time when she broke down, the realization that Ran was gone and would never return only got hammered into her conscious more and more.

Unbeknownst to Moca, she was not as alone in that part of the graveyard as she might have thought that she was; somebody was watching her. Watching her with just as much hurt in her eyes knowing that Moca was hurting as much as she was while being unable to do anything to try and help the girl with ivory-colored hair.

"Moca-chan…" Tsugumi breathed out as she felt a familiar dampness on both of her cheeks while watching her friend in front of her.

* * *

It had been about an hour after Tsugumi had found Moca by Ran's tombstone, broken and unmoving, and now the two friends were already seated in the bus that would take them home. Or as close to home as the bus would drive them to, that is.

Tsugumi did not know how she managed to pry Moca's hands off Ran's tombstone or get Moca to walk all the way back to the nearest bus stop, but she knew that she finally managed to; and not a second too late, either. With a small frown, Tsugumi looked out the window beside her as the droplets of rain struck the glass. It was oddly satisfying and calming to sit inside while watching the weather outside, but Tsugumi knew that it would have been a whole different story if she were to be experiencing the weather first-hand.

But that was not the least of Tsugumi's worries.

"Moca-chan… are you… all right?" Tsugumi asked the girl who was slumped down in the seat beside her, her voice unsteady and shaky to reflect the weakened resolve that Tsugumi had. Even so, Tsugumi knew that she couldn't give in now of all times; Moca needed her and Tsugumi was well aware of this fact.

Unfortunately for Tsugumi, no amount of self-reassurance was enough to calm her nerves or worries regarding her friend when she was watching her almost lifeless form beside her. She still had yet to receive a proper answer from Moca, but the state that Moca was in was already more than enough of a reply for Tsugumi.

'I knew that what happened to Ran-chan still affected Moca-chan, much more than it did me… but I underestimated just how much… Moca-chan…' Tsugumi thought to herself as she continued to silently observe her friend. Tsugumi was stopped from pondering on this for any longer when the bus came to a rocky halt by a familiar stop.

"Moca-chan? Moca-chan, we're here," Tsugumi said, gently shaking her friend's shoulder to try and reach her. Much to her relief, Tsugumi didn't have to do much else to get Moca to stand on her own two feet and the two of them were back outside before they knew it.

Looking around her to remind herself where they were as this was not their usual stop, Tsugumi soon nodded to herself confidently before turning back to the still-silent Moca beside her. Hesitantly, Tsugumi tried to reach her friend, "So… should I walk with you until we get to Moca-chan's apartment or do you want to split up here?"

"If you don't mind…" Moca muttered softly whilst avoiding eye contact all the same. Despite this, Moca knew that Tsugumi would go with her and quickly fell in step with her friend. Several minutes went by like this as the two of them walked on in silence until Moca finally broke it, "Sorry you couldn't get to talk with Ran today. I dragged you all the way there for no reason at all and you wasted your day on me again."

"Don't say that Moca-chan," Tsugumi said, her voice managing to sound both reassuring as well as scorning at the same time. Then, as if she knew that she shouldn't use that tone for long, Tsugumi softened her tone before adding with a small smile, "Moca-chan needed me to go with her and that is why I went. I can always go and visit Ran-chan another day."

"Tsugu…" Moca stopped in her step as she eyed Tsugumi with wide eyes. This abrupt change of pace forced Tsugumi to stop as well to try and see if something was wrong. Thankfully for the brunette, she did not have to worry about anything as Moca was quick to speak again, "At least let me make it up to you. Moca-chan doesn't like to still be indebted to others."

"I-Indebted…?" Tsugumi echoed before she could stop herself from doing so, caught off guard at what she had just been told. It took Tsugumi several seconds to regain her composure and give Moca a solid answer, "You're not indebted to me at all, Moca-chan. You know that I wanted to go with you as well, right?"

When Moca did not answer her right away, Tsugumi started to grow worried again. Knowing full well how hard Moca can be to herself, Tsugumi was about to open her mouth again when somebody had beaten her to it.

"I know, Tsugu, but can't I at least do something for you?" Moca asked, and this time she made sure that Tsugumi knew how much she genuinely meant this. When Tsugumi saw this, she nodded to herself slowly as soon as she thought of the thing that she wanted Moca to do.

"Let's go to your apartment first, Moca-chan, and then I will tell you there," Tsugumi said with a small smile as she increased her walking pace. She did this not only to reach her destination faster but also because the drizzle from earlier was growing in intensity; Tsugumi wanted to get inside where it would be warm and dry before it got much worse. Every so often, the brunette turned her head to make sure that Moca wasn't falling too far behind, but the remaining walk back to Moca's apartment proceeded silently and almost uneventfully.

* * *

"I am sure that you understand it as well, Moca-chan…" Tsugumi began as she carefully placed the offending bag of nitrogen in her bag with a look of pure disgust on her face before turning back to the girl who was watching her silently, "Do you have any more of these lying around or is this the only one?"

Moca and Tsugumi had reached Moca's apartment and, as promised earlier, Tsugumi did not waste any time to inform her friend of what she wanted to do. Moca could not say that she was surprised at this development but at the same time was unable to say much in response.

"No, that is the only one," Moca said while making sure that she did not break eye contact. She knew what her friend wanted and she knew that Tsugumi of all people could see right through her façade. When Tsugumi kept looking at her in the same scrutinizing gaze, Moca added, "What? Don't you trust me?"

"You know that that is not the reason why I am doing this, Moca-chan. Now please give me the other bags as well," Tsugumi added the second part in a surprisingly pushing tone as if she was exhausted from repeating this again. When Moca did not move to get the items that had caused them so much despair in the past Tsugumi started to show her impatience, "Moca-chan."

"That is the only one that I have, why would I get more than one anyway?" Moca rebutted, motioning to Tsugumi's bag with one hand as she faced her friend. A split second later she softly added, "I'm sorry… I know that you are just worried about me and—"

Moca was cut off from saying anything else when she heard a soft thud in front of her before she felt a pair of warm and comforting arms snake around her back and keep her close. As Tsugumi's breathing was more felt than heard, Moca slowly but surely calmed down again.

"Is that better?" Tsugumi asked with a warm smile after a minute or so had passed with the two girls like that. Upon seeing the look on her friend's face Tsugumi added with a light laugh, "You learn a lot if you meet someone like Eve-chan on a regular basis."

"I am sure that you do," Moca said with a small smile of her own as she moved in such a way that would tell Tsugumi that she was all right now thanks to the embrace. Thankfully for her, this did not go unnoticed by Tsugumi and the two childhood friends had another meter or so space in between them soon after. Moca once again thanked her friend for helping her out and Tsugumi nodded happily, noting how she was more than happy to help her out.

"Since I am here anyway, do you want me to quickly cook us some early dinner, Moca-chan?" Tsugumi asked after she saw what time it was; the sky outside the window had already turned into a nice scarlet-like color and most people were hurrying to get home. Right as Tsugumi asked the question the sound of a grumbling stomach resonated through the room that caused a giggle from Tsugumi and a flustered look from Moca.

"Why don't you go and sit down, Moca-chan?" Tsugumi offered as she ushered Moca to the couch in the living room of the apartment with a smile. Once Moca was properly seated, Tsugumi added, "I'll call you over when I am done."

And without giving Moca enough time to respond to what she had just said to her, Tsugumi hurried off to the kitchen to get cooking. What this did was allow Moca to sit down with all of her thoughts to play with and nobody to bother as she went through them all. It had been a long and mentally tiring day for both girls so Moca was silently happy that she had some alone time now.

Deciding against simply sitting still while Tsugumi was busy taking care of her, Moca instead chose to walk over to a set of drawers and go through some of the contents. What waited for her in there was enough to shake even the all-amazing Aoba Moca.

The items that Moca pulled out from the drawer would normally be considered to be everyday objects and not special whatsoever, but they all had a special reason to be there. To evoke such strong emotions from the bottom of Moca's heart as memories started to flood back in her mind.

The notebook, the photo album, the camera, and even the small silver pendant that lay innocently in the drawer were all originally owned by Moca's late friend. As a result of this, they were therefore irreplaceable to her and were well taken care of.

Moca did not get a lot of time to contemplate or process her thoughts for very long as the familiar scent of warm food started to embrace and invite her over. She did not even need to hear Tsugumi call her name several seconds later to know that dinner was ready.

When Moca arrived at the small wooden dining table in the other end of her apartment she was met with a shocking sight. Moca knew that Tsugumi had started cooking lessons from her parents not too long ago but she was not expecting to be harvesting the fruits of her friend's hard work already.

Moca silently thanked her friend as she took a seat, eyeing the bowls of miso and tofu in front of her with a ravenous appetite; one that even Moca herself did not seem to have noticed that she had. Several moments after Moca had seated herself she saw Tsugumi walk inside with a tray that had a bowl of vegetables, a bowl of meat and a long cucumber on it.

"Sorry, Moca-chan, but I couldn't find a good knife to cut the cucumber," Tsugumi said as soon as she saw that she was within hearing distance and would not risk dropping anything in her hands. As she placed the remaining items on the table the brunette added, "What should we do with the cucumber?"

"Give it to me," Moca said calmly as she stretched her hand out. When the cucumber was handed over to her by a confused Tsugumi, Moca gripped both ends of the vegetable before a loud cracking sound filled the room. Moca was now holding two halves of the cucumbers and was offering Tsugumi one with a grin, "Fancy half a cucumber, Tsugu~?"

"What would Ran-chan say if she saw you like this?" Tsugumi said while shaking her head slightly but accepting the vegetable regardless. Now with the cucumber crisis averted, Tsugumi took a seat opposite to Moca at the exact moment when Moca had begun her response to Tsugumi's question.

"Ran would say, and Moca-chan quotes…" Moca began before her face turned into a scowl and her voice deepened considerably, "'Moca, you're still the same as always…'"

"That indeed sounds like Ran-chan yeah," Tsugumi laughed and Moca joined her. A few seconds passed before Tsugumi managed to regain her composure, but once she did she motioned towards all the food on the table and said with a bright smile, "But for now, let's dig in, Moca-chan!"

The two of them fell in a blissful silence as they enjoyed the meal that Tsugumi had prepared, savoring the taste of the exquisitely prepared food as it touched their taste buds. A great change of pace after the day's events and one that was cherished by both girls.

* * *

Later that evening, Tsugumi was busy cleaning up her room after having left it in a less-than-spotless state earlier that day. She did not mind needing to do late-night cleaning as she knew that she was in a hurry in the morning, but a part of Tsugumi kind of regretted having made such a mess.

'Moca-chan didn't want me to stay over with her for the night…' Tsugumi thought to herself as a somewhat worried frown was adorning her features. Trying to shake her worry off her mind, Tsugumi then muttered to herself to try and reassure her, "Moca-chan will be fine. If there is anything then I am sure that Moca-chan will contact me. And what are the chances that something bad would happen to Moca-chan now of all times anyway?"

Tsugumi was just finishing with folding a skirt that had fallen out of her wardrobe in her rush to get ready when something caught the brunette's eyes: her phone was lit up.

Gently placing the article of clothing to the side so it would not wrinkle even more than it already had, Tsugumi walked over to her phone when her eyes widened. She quickly grabbed her phone and held it close to her ear, "Hello? Hello?!"

The only thing that Tsugumi could hear, much to her dismay, was the dreaded beeping sound of a call that had been dropped. Not wanting to waste another second, Tsugumi quickly flipped over to her messaging app and began typing out a message. She was not fast enough, however, as a message arrived on her phone before she could finish her own. Reading this message sent a chill through Tsugumi's spine as the soft thud that indicated the phone touching the floor resonated through the room.

And then there was silence.

* * *

 **And that wraps up today's chapter! I hope you all enjoyed it, please leave a review telling me what you thought, and until next time! Take care!**


	6. Overcome the Past! Rise, Hazawa Tsugumi!

**It's been two weeks so here we are once again: with the sixth chapter of this story! Read on to find out what happened after last chapter's ending! Also, it should already be obvious but we'll be delving into a theme that had been hinted at in every single chapter before this one. If you have read The Final Glow of Afterglow, then you know what that theme would be. If not then I am still sure you can figure it out without me outright telling you upfront like this, right?**

 **A special round of thank you goes to LightZephyr for beta-ing this chapter. Also, on a (somewhat) related note: this chapter is slightly shorter than the other chapters due to real life issues and the fact that we originally planned for one extra scene to be included in this chapter. We decided that it would be better to save that scene for a later date so the word count dropped significantly.**

 **The Disclaimer is the same as always, right Ran~?**

 ***complete and utter silence***

 **Oh… right… anyways, on to the chapter!**

* * *

 _It was a dark and stormy night. The forecast announced that the resulting thunderstorm may continue for hours on end, but that had been over two days ago with no sign of stopping anytime soon._

 _As the pellets of rain hammered down on the rooftops, the seventeen-year-old girl looked out of her window longingly. She was not liking the fact that she had to sit here and wait out the storm when there were a thousand other things she would rather be doing. Granted, she was not much of an outdoor kind of person but even someone like her was starting to get fed up with doing nothing._

 _With nothing better to do, the girl stood up and walked over to her bed where a single picture frame lay on top of the soft bedding. It was the exact same picture frame that she had been carrying around with her for so long as it was one of the very few things that managed to keep her sane._

 _It failed to fulfill its purpose this time, however._

 _The_ _picture in the frame showed a group of about twenty girls standing in front of the entrance of a school, all of them smiling brightly and each of them clearly proud of something. It was the photo the class had taken together after they graduated junior high school and was one of the girl's most prized possessions._

 _It did not take long for her eyes to gravitate towards the same familiar face in the photo yet again. A girl with short jet-black hair who was neither exceptionally tall nor vertically challenged for her age. She was standing in the corner of the group but she still managed to radiate a bright and powerful aura. An aura that, even to this day, succeeded in grabbing her attention from out of a crowd; almost as if it were a living landmark in the sea of people._

 _Nobody in the picture could have predicted what would have happened to this girl only months after this photo was taken. The raging inferno and thick clouds of smoke and debris were still fresh in Aoba Moca's mind as if it were only yesterday. In actuality, almost three years had passed since that day._

 _"What should I do without you…?" Moca said softly as her already swollen eyes started to hurt again. Knowing that nobody would be able to see her in this state was enough for Moca to not even try to keep the tears bottled up. Only a few seconds later and the soft sound of the girl's grievous sobs could be heard in the room; the thunderstorm outside succeeding in drowning out the sound and preventing it from reaching the other rooms in the house._

 _After taking several minutes to regain her composure and to make up her mind as to what else she should be doing, Moca slowly rose back to her feet and walked to her desk. Once there she took out a piece of paper and a pen and began writing. She did not try to filter out anything that she would be putting on the paper as she knew she had to convey everything. To give her last remaining friend a proper reason why she was about to do what she was about to do._

 _It took Moca approximately half an hour to finish her final letter and, after having reread it to make sure that she was content with the result, nodded to herself. Moca placed the folded letter by her pillow and went downstairs to see if there was anything that she could do._

 _Unsurprisingly, there was nobody there to greet her, but this had become such a regular occurrence that Moca did not seem to be too disturbed by this. Instead, Moca decided to do something more useful with her time: making sure that everything was properly locked so no damage would occur._

 _As soon as Moca was done with going through the empty house once again, she made her way back to her room where she knew it would be waiting for her. Where she knew that she would finally be able to escape this hellhole called life._

 _Moca was walking as if on auto-pilot, her legs bringing her to the drawer where she had stored it in. In it lay the offending object that she wished she had never ordered from the internet, but with no adult living in the house there was nobody to stop her when she did._

 _"To think that I will be using you after all…" Moca said as she picked up the bag of concentrated nitrogen with a look of disgust on her face. It was clear that she never wanted it to go down the way that it did, but she had enough of it. She had enough of going through every single day while pretending like she was okay. She had enough of the lonely nights where she would huddle in her blankets with nothing else to comfort her._

 _But more than anything, Moca had enough of living in a world without that person in it. To go on when knowing that she would be all alone._

 _The next few seconds passed and Moca still had yet to move; instead, she was trying to suppress the memories of the times that she had lost so she would not break down. She took a deep breath and slapped her cheeks a handful of times to get back to reality before she had finally made up her mind._

 _"I'm sorry, Tsugu…" Moca whispered softly as a single tear rolled down her cheek, the thought of the brunette almost made Moca rethink her decision. Almost. Moca shook her head before she looked at the letter that she had placed by her side and added, "But it will be better this way… you don't have to worry about me and now you can spread your wings and soar high on your own, just like how your parents had wanted you to do…"_

 _And with that, Moca was about to open the bag and cover her face with it when—._

* * *

"Tsugu? What are you doing here?"

The surprised voice of Uehara Himari was backed up by a similar look on her face as she stood in the doorway of her apartment. The girl who was even shorter than Tsugumi was rubbing the sleep out of her left eye and looking at Tsugumi with her right. As she did this, Himari's pajamas that were themed around magical girls seemed to glow brightly with the source of light being behind her from the inside.

"I'm sorry for coming to you unannounced at this hour, but I need your help, Himari-chan," Tsugumi said with a look of desperation on her face while clinging on to Himari's shoulders. Fortunately for Tsugumi, this was enough to wake Himari up properly so Tsugumi begged again, "Please, Himari-chan."

"Eh? Eh? Um… sure, I guess, but what do you want me to do?" Himari asked while sounding shocked still. It was only after hearing this that Tsugumi seemed to have calmed down enough to finally let go off Himari, so Himari took this opportunity to speak again, "Tsugu, I know that it isn't like you to jump into things without thinking too much about it, so please tell me. What is going on?"

"I'm sorry, Himari-chan, I really don't have the time to sit around here," Tsugumi said as she buried through her pockets to find something. As soon as her fingers wrapped around the familiar object she pulled out a folded piece of paper and handed it to Himari, "Here, can you call this number for me please?"

"And what—What should I tell them?" Himari asked as she picked the piece of paper and held it in her hand firmly. She knew that she wanted to look at the number so much but she also knew that Tsugumi needed her more right now.

"Tell her that I said that it might have been done and that I need her to come to the usual place," Tsugumi said as she was already going over her stuff to make sure that she had everything. Once she finished doing this, Tsugumi turned back to Himari and added, "I'm sorry for barging into your place like this, but I really cannot do it myself. I can count on you, right?"

"O-Of course…" Himari murmured, but it was thankfully loud enough for Tsugumi to hear her.

"Thank you, Himari-chan," Tsugumi said while embracing her friend quickly. With that done, Tsugumi turned around and excused herself before running off into the distance. This left Himari still standing silently in the doorway while wondering what had just happened.

After several seconds had passed since Tsugumi's departure, Himari walked back in her apartment and locked the door. Only then did she have the luxury to think back on what had happened just now.

"Tsugu never asks for help from anyone…" Himari thought out loud as she walked into the living room and started to absentmindedly make herself a cup of hot chocolate. This revelation made her even more curious as to what had happened for her friend to be acting that way, but Himari's thought process was cut off when somebody else broke the silence.

"You're still up, Himari?" the somewhat drowsy voice asked as Tomoe slumped inside and started the water heater for herself. When the redhead saw the look on Himari's face she seemed a lot more awake than before, "What happened?"

"Tsugu came by just now and asked me a favor… she never asked help from anyone before so this must be really big…" Himari replied in a sullen voice. Because of this, she did not notice that Tomoe had walked up to her and read the note over Himari's shoulder.

"What's that?" Tomoe asked as she pointed at the paper that Himari had gotten from Tsugumi only moments ago. On the paper was a hastily-written string of numbers that Tomoe could only assume were a phone number.

"It's the phone number of the person that Tsugumi wanted me to call for her," Himari said, her voice slightly unclear due to the fact that she was rummaging through the cupboard for a cup. Her head popped back out a few moments later with a mug in her hand.

"That number does look familiar, don't you think?" Himari added as she poured her drink and stood beside Tomoe to look at the string of numbers again, "I don't know why, though…"

"There is only one way to find out," Tomoe said as she reached for Himari's phone and handed it back to its rightful owner. After Himari had accepted it with a small nod, Tomoe added in a more serious tone, "If it is true that Tsugu never asks for help then you shouldn't keep her waiting too long. It might be more important than we think it is."

"You're right…" Himari mumbled her agreement as she unlocked her phone and began dialing in the string of numbers. It was a split second before her thumb would hit the 'call' button that Himari froze in place.

This did not go unnoticed by Tomoe who, now with a cup tea of her own, looked at her worriedly, "Himari? What's wrong?"

"I… I recognize this number…" Himari breathed out as she looked at her phone with wide eyes. Taking a deep breath to help calm herself down, Himari slowly lowered herself into a chair and murmured, "But why would Tsugu want me to call he—?"

Tomoe was about to try and say something to snap Himari out of it again but Himari chose that moment to jump back on her feet. Himari did not even flinch when the scalding cocoa scorched her hand as it dripped on the floor.

"No way!" Himari cried out all of sudden, almost knocking Tomoe's cup out of her own hands in the process. After apologizing profusely to a somewhat irate Tomoe, Himari showed her phone to her housemate and added, "This is the person who Tsugu wants me to call."

"Her? But why would Tsugu want to contact her?" Tomoe thought out loud as she looked from the phone to Himari. The two girls remained silent after Tomoe had said that, thinking of a possible reason to explain Tsugumi's behavior and understand what was happening.

Unbeknownst to either girl, Himari's thumb had reached the call button on her phone and the phone started dialing the inputted number. Because the phone was not on loudspeaker or was not held to Himari's ear, she did not notice this at all.

Both Tomoe and Himari realized it at the same time as the call got dropped, but it was Tomoe who acted first.

"Himari, how long will it take for you to get ready?" Tomoe asked as she was already making a mental route for herself. When Himari had given her the answer, Tomoe added, "All right, I'll see you back here in ten minutes! Let's hurry!"

Tomoe was on the move and already in her room before Himari had shown that she would do the same. It was at this moment that Himari raised her phone to eye-level and saw that she could not even reach the person she was meant to call.

'Well, that won't matter… Tomoe and I will be going to her place in person, after all,' Himari thought to herself as she pocketed her phone again and walked off to get ready. With a sigh, Himari spared one final thought before she really headed to follow Tomoe's example.

'Please let us not be too late.'

* * *

"Moca-chan! Moca-chan, open up! It is me, Tsugumi! Moca-chan, please!"

Tsugumi was pounding away at the apartment door in front of her, each slam louder than the last as her desperation grew. The brunette did not care about the cold water dripping down her drenched hair or that her clothes clung to her skin. All that was on her mind was to get to the person behind the door no matter what.

She was not expecting her childhood friend to respond right away, but she did know that she couldn't stay out here for much longer. Not only because every second outside meant that something could happen to Moca but also because the weather was starting to get to her.

Suppressing a shiver to the best of her ability, Tsugumi opened her purse and took out the spare key of Moca's apartment. Moca had created a copy and handed it to Tsugumi in the case of an emergency several months ago, but Tsugumi never had to use it.

'Now's as much of an emergency as any…' Tsugumi muttered to herself as she looked at the small metal object in her hand. She did not like using it as it felt like breaching Moca's privacy, in a way, by entering her apartment without her permission, but Tsugumi knew that she couldn't take any chances. Not now of all times.

"Moca-chan, I am coming in!" Tsugumi announced after taking a deep breath to try and regain her composure. Once she was calmer, Tsugumi pushed the key in the keyhole and unlocked it. The door swung open smoothly and without a sound, much to Tsugumi's surprise. Whether this was because Moca had managed to fix her door or that the weather drowned out the creaking of the door Tsugumi did not know.

"Moca-chan?" Tsugumi called out as she took the first step into the hallway and wringing her hair out. The apartment was quiet which was not a welcoming scene to arrive to for Tsugumi. Even so, Tsugumi walked on as she knew that she could not afford to hesitate anymore.

Other than the lack of sound and light in the apartment, it still felt as if it were the same as always, but something still did not feel right for Tsugumi. She came to this apartment far too many times to at least not overlook something as important as this. And it was this knowledge that really put Tsugumi on high alert for anything out of the ordinary.

"Moca-chan?" Tsugumi tried again, calling for her friend as she shuffled to where she knew the light switch was. Fumbling around slightly and trying not to step on any of the items littering the floor, Tsugumi finally found the switch, "I'm going to turn the light on, okay?"

Tsugumi did not receive any response, but she was already mentally prepared for this when she set foot in the apartment. Instead of waiting any longer, Tsugumi flicked the switch and bright artificial light flooded the room. The flash of light was so sudden and intense that Tsugumi had to shield her eyes, but once she could see again Tsugumi saw that it did the trick of illuminating the room well.

Tsugumi could see all the random items littered about that she could not have seen earlier but knew were there. From a book that had fallen open to page three-thousand-and-five to all the glass and mugs and even a half-eaten ramen-to-go box. Tsugumi shuddered at this and wondered how long she must have been away from this place for it to fall into chaos like this.

But that was when Tsugumi saw that she was not alone in the room.

"Moca-chan!" Tsugumi cried out before sprinting to the prone body lying on the floor. Dodging a random sock and almost slipping on another, Tsugumi made it to Moca's side and had already turned her around to lay on her back. When she felt both a heartbeat and the breathing of her friend, Tsugumi let out a sigh of relief, "Thank goodness…"

"Un…"

Moca stirred slightly which caused Tsugumi to look at her worriedly. Thankfully, nothing happened and Moca was just turning around in her sleep. Something else did grab Tsugumi's attention, however, and it wasn't long until she had her phone held against her ear.

"Hello? Himari-chan?" Tsugumi said into the phone while waiting for a response. As she waited Tsugumi made her way over to the coffee maker and turned it on, deciding that Moca might want to get a cup when she regains consciousness.

 _"Tsugu! I'm so sorry!"_ Himari's voice cried out from the other end of the call, but her voice was muffled by the pounding of the rain on metal and… was that the sound of traffic that Tsugumi heard? Shaking her head to get rid of these thoughts she waited patiently for Himari to continue, _"I tried making the call but the person you wanted me to call didn't pick up. Tomoe and I just went by her house but it is empty. I'm really sorry I can't help much more, Tsugu…"_

"That's okay, Himari-chan, thank you for trying so hard," Tsugumi replied, thankful that her friend was willing to do that much but still wondering why they could not contact that person. Deciding that it didn't matter anymore as Moca was safe for the time being, Tsugumi agreed to treat Himari and Tomoe some other day before ending the call.

Tsugumi pocketed her phone again and was about to check up on the status of the coffee when she heard movement behind her. Much to her relief, she saw that Moca had gotten up, but Tsugumi knew that Moca had seen better days so knew to be careful.

"Moca-chan, are you all right?" Tsugumi asked as soon as she was by Moca's side again, looking over her friend with a careful and worried eye. She could not see anything that might be cause for concern, but most of Moca's struggles had not been physical ones. With this in mind, Tsugumi asked in a voice that sounded almost hesitant, "What… happened…?"

Moca remained silent even after Tsugumi had made no sign that she wanted to say anything, and while Tsugumi had expected this it still pained her to see her friend this way. To see her friend suffering right in front of her while being unable to do anything to help her. Tsugumi was about to try and reach out to her friend and had already opened her mouth but she was too slow.

"Memories of that day…" Moca murmured as she buried her face in her hands, muffling her voice considerably. Fortunately for Moca, Tsugumi did hear what Moca had said and this realization was what allowed Moca to slowly but surely calm herself down.

Before Moca had realized it a pair of warm and inviting arms had already wrapped themselves around her, not too unlike how a python would wrap itself around its prey. The only difference between a python and Tsugumi being that Tsugumi was doing it with the intent of comforting her target.

Moca stiffened at the contact at first but soon relaxed into and even started to lean in the embrace. She would never tell Tsugumi that she relished moments like these, but something told Moca that her well-kept secret may not have been as well-kept as she thought it was.

"How often have you been dreaming about Ran-chan, Moca-chan?" Tsugumi whispered softly, her voice gentle and comforting in a way that only Hazawa Tsugumi could be. Moca knew that she had the greatest friend right here when she heard that as it confirmed to her what she already knew: that Tsugumi would be there if she needed to.

Perhaps that is why it was easy for Moca to lower her guard around Tsugumi, knowing full well that she was safe to do so.

"Only recently did I start doing it…" Moca admitted before she reluctantly wrestled out of the embrace. As much as she enjoyed it, Moca knew that she needed to look Tsugumi in the eyes while saying what she was about to say next, "That is why I asked Tsugu to come with me to Ran's grave today. I thought that it would help in clearing any doubts and worries I might have…"

"But it didn't, did it?" Tsugumi asked as she looked at her friend worriedly. When Moca shook her head in confirmation Tsugumi took a moment to think over a thought. Deciding that she might as well bring it up, Tsugumi added, "I made coffee earlier, do you want some too, Moca-chan?"

Moca only nodded in response, but this was enough of an answer for Tsugumi to understand what Moca wanted. Tsugumi gently untangled herself from Moca before standing up and heading to the coffee maker. A few minutes passed before Tsugumi returned with two steaming cups and handed one of them to Moca. Moca accepted it with a small but grateful smile and the two girls fell in a comfortable silence with a cup of coffee to call their own.

"You know, Moca-chan…" Tsugumi said before trailing off, choosing to take a sip of her drink instead of finishing her sentence. After relishing the taste of the drink she decided that she should continue, so she did, "I offered this to you before but I'll offer it again. I am fine with staying with Moca-chan for the night to help her through it."

Moca remained silent even after minutes had passed since Tsugumi had stopped talking. The silence was starting to weigh down heavily on their shoulders and Tsugumi, who was starting to look visibly uncomfortable at this, was about to try and break it.

"Thank you, Tsugu. That might be a good idea, actually," Moca said softly without raising her gaze from her cup of coffee. Her ivory-colored bangs fell in front of her eyes and obscured her field of vision slightly, but Moca made no move to try and move them.

"I had a feeling you would say that…" Tsugumi said with a smile and a defeated sigh. She was ready for her offer to be turned down so she hadn't put her hopes up too high. That was, of course, until her brain finally processed what Moca had said, "Wait, what? What did Moca-chan say?"

"I said that I'd take you up on that offer of yours, Tsugu. Don't look so surprised, you were the one who brought it up again, after all," Moca added the next part while eyeing her friend with a watchful eye. Casually raising her cup back to her mouth and taking another sip of the bitter drink, Moca spoke again, "Besides, it might be a good idea. If you are around then you don't have to go all the way here if I call you in the middle of the night again."

"Sorry, I wasn't expecting Moca-chan to accept my offer," Tsugumi said with a chuckle which elicited a small smile from Moca. Thinking of something to bring up to lighten the mood in any way possible, Tsugumi's brain fell back to the one thing that she knew would work, "Have you already eaten, Moca-chan?"

"You cooked us some food about four hours ago for an early dinner here, remember?" Moca asked Tsugumi to which the brunette could only look away sheepishly. Not wanting to let an opportunity to taste Tsugumi's cooking go to waste, Moca grinned, "But Moca-chan would definitely not say 'no' to more food~."

"All right, but you're going to help me cook this time," Tsugumi said as she stood up and placed her cup at the nearby table. Turning around and offered her hand to her friend with a smile, "Let's go, Moca-chan!"

"Right!" Moca smiled as she accepted her friend's hand and allowed herself to be pulled back on her feet. Before she knew it, Moca was already following her friend to the kitchen where the two of them would be busy for a while.

But Moca knew that she wouldn't have had it any other way, silently making a mental note to repay Tsugumi's kindness one day. For now, however, Moca would just relish the fact that she had someone like Tsugumi as a best friend.

* * *

As Tsugumi was helping Moca feel more at ease after her earlier experience, a hooded figure was looking up at the well-lit apartment in front of her. The person's long hair clung to her skin as the downpour continued and based on how she looked, she could not be much older than either Moca or Tsugumi were. Even with the rain and wind assaulting her, however, she did not seem to be planning to leave the area.

A smile was tugging at her lips as memories started to flash before her eyes, something that she allowed herself to do to keep her mind off of things. She was shaken back to reality when a certain sensation was felt in her pocket. Digging through it she found, much to her surprise, that she received a message on her phone. But it was the original sender of the message that really caught her eye.

"I guess we weren't fated to meet yet today," the young woman muttered to herself as she pocketed her phone again. At the moment that the words left her mouth, a single drop fell from the sky and rolled down the side of her face. She did not pay much attention or importance to this, however, and instead closed her eyes with a smile, "Besides, even if I am not there with you… I am sure that Tsugumi will take good care of you."

And with that, the young woman put her hood back up to cover and protect as much of her head from the rain as possible. After looking at the apartment with a longing look in her eyes, she turned around. As much as she would want nothing more than to burst through the door and announce her presence, she knew that this was not the right time to do so. That this was not the right moment for her to interfere.

'With Tsugumi by your side, I am sure that you will be fine for now. Stay strong, Aoba Moca,' the young woman thought to herself, and it was with this final thought that she knew that she was making the right decision. Without any sign of hesitation or reluctance, she started to make her way down the street to her next destination.

She knew that it would not be long until the fated day would come, and she was already counting down the seconds.

* * *

 **And that wraps up today's chapter! I hope you enjoyed it, please leave a review telling me what you thought, and until next time! Take care!**


	7. Friends

**The last chapter was a lot of fun for me to write, despite that little scenario going on with the last-minute deletion of a scene… but what was more fun was reading the responses of the people who left a review on the previous chapter… I am sure that you are all _dying_ to find out, right?**

 **For a quick reminder for those who do not check out my Falneou17 Tumblr (you really should for announcements like this one): this story has been brought down to a once-a-month update schedule and will be updated on every third Saturday of the month for the foreseeable future. Long story short, I want to be able to take the time to make sure that the chapters are of sufficient quality rather than pump out low-quality chapters for the sake of updating frequently.**

 **A special thank you goes to LightZephyr for the usual help in beta-reading this chapter!**

 **Disclaimer's the same as always in that I do not own BanG Dream! Girls Band Party, nor do I, in any way, shape or form, intend to pretend that I do.**

* * *

The night that followed after Tsugumi had arrived at Moca's apartment and helped her calm down proceeded without much trouble. As a matter of fact, knowing that Tsugumi was only one room away was doing wonders to allowing a good night's worth of sleep for Moca.

After enjoying a nice breakfast together, compliments of the only daughter of the Hazawa family, the two girls left Moca's apartment to go their separate ways. Tsugumi, much to her displeasure, still had a shift at her parents' café and, after the insistent urgings of Moca, admitted that calling in sick would not be a good idea.

Moca, on the other hand, had other plans for the day ahead of her. She wasn't able to explore the city much lately and she decided that now was as good of a day as any to do so. In stark contrast to the day before when Moca and Tsugumi were visiting Ran, today was a brighter day with the sun breaking through the clouds above and a light, zephyr-like breeze rustling the overhead leaves. There was no way that Moca would waste this opportunity and it was with this mindset that she eventually found herself in a certain store.

"I should really find a way to thank Tsugu for everything that she's done for me," Moca muttered to herself as she eyed the two objects in her hands with a scrutinizing gaze. In one hand she was holding a pack of high-quality but expensive bath bombs while the other held a pack of accessories ranging from headbands to hair clips, "Hm… Tsugu would probably like the bath bombs more, but… they are so expensive…"

Moca was deep in thoughts as she contemplated the two possible things that she could get for her friend; so much so that she did not even notice that she was being watched. At the end of the aisle was a girl about Moca's age watching her every move, her fair skin contrasting nicely with her long hair that was as black as obsidian. However, as much as she seemed like she wanted to approach Moca she looked like she was unable to do so for some reason.

"I suppose that I don't really have much of a choice…" Moca sighed as she was about to put one of the packs back on the rack where she had found it. She almost did this if her gaze had not locked on to the girl that had been observing her all this time and both of them froze.

"May I ask you a question?" Moca called out to the silent girl who visibly flinched at being addressed directly. Moca, however, either did not seem to notice this or chose to ignore it entirely, and before long was only a few steps away from this girl, "You work here, right?"

"Um… yes—yes, I do…" the girl muttered softly while trying to look at anything other than Moca who was standing right in front of her. Fidgeting slightly with the hem of her skirt and gulping softly, the girl did not seem like she was at ease at all. Moca saw this and was about to bring it up when the girl looked at her with a shaky gaze and asked, "What are… what are you looking for?"

"I really don't know," Moca admitted as she looked around her in an effort to scan the many accessories that were on display. Not finding any particular one that really caught her interest, she turned back to the girl in front of her and started to explain the situation that she was in, "You see, a friend of mine has been helping me out a lot lately and I want to give her a gift to show my appreciation. But I don't know what to get her and I am at a loss now, so I was wondering if you had any suggestions."

"I see…" the girl said as she raised her finger to her lips and fell silent, most likely as she was trying to think of the right way to respond to Moca's plight. Not too long after, she had already seemingly made up her mind and turned around, but not before adding to Moca, "Please follow me."

Unable to think of a good reason not to do so, especially after remembering that she was the one who had asked the other girl for help, Moca followed the black-haired girl and the two of them fell into step with one another. It was only now that Moca realized just how large this store was as she felt like she had been walking for hours before the two of them came to a halt.

"Here we are… maybe you can find something… something better here?" the black-haired girl said as she turned back to look at Moca and motioned at the racks of accessories and the many different items that were on display. Even Moca knew that it was an impressive display despite having little to no knowledge or understanding of these things.

"Wow… this store is amazing!" Moca breathed out as she scanned the various items, not even knowing where to start looking for a potential gift. As she took one slow step after the other in the direction of the end of the aisle, the two girls would soon collide but Moca snapped out in time to stop herself, "Ah, sorry about that."

"I-It's okay…" the other girl said as she held a hand close to her heart and took a few deep breaths. As soon as she finished regaining her composure she turned back to Moca and added in a soft voice, "Is that all… that you needed?"

"Hm… there is one last thing that I would like to ask of you if I may," Moca said with a smile after a moment of contemplating something. Without wasting much more time beyond that, she offered her hand to the girl who had helped her, "Thank you for helping Aoba Moca-chan~ may Moca-chan ask you for your name~?"

* * *

'That was a success!' Moca thought to herself happily as she held the paper bag that had her gift for Tsugumi close to her. After looking at the many things on display, Moca decided on a simple yellow-colored necklace that she thought would fit her friend very well. A new necklace was not the only thing that she managed to get out of her trip from the store, however.

"Shirokane Rinko-san, eh?" Moca muttered to herself as she looked at her phone's screen where a new contact number was added only minutes ago. Smiling at the knowledge of having made a new friend while also hoping that they could meet again soon, Moca was too engrossed in her own thoughts that she was not looking where she was going.

Before Moca knew what was happening she was already lying flat on the ground with a painful bruise to add on to her damaged pride. Luckily for her, her gift remained unharmed, but the same could not be said about her.

"Ah, I'm so sorr—wait, Moca?" a familiar-sounding voice that came from above her said, causing Moca to look up. As Moca had expected, Himari was looking down at her with a worried look, and as soon as she saw that Moca looked at her Himari offered her a handkerchief, "You may want to clean that scrape a little before it gets infected."

"My… scrape…?" Moca echoed as she looked down at herself to see what Himari could be talking about. Sure enough, there was a little wound on Moca's knee with a small stream of blood trickling down her leg. Gratefully accepting the handkerchief from Himari, Moca dried her knee up before turning to look at Himari, "What are you doing here anyway, Hii-chan?"

"I was actually on my way to get some work done in a nearby café," Himari said as she pointed in what seemed like a seemingly random direction for Moca. After accepting and pocketing her handkerchief again, Himari added, "Since we ran into each other just now, want to come with me?"

"You sure that's okay?" Moca asked as she got back on her feet. After looking herself over once again to make sure that she did not have any other injury on her thanks to the fall she turned back to Himari and added, "Since Hii-chan is going there for work and everything."

"Oh, that? Don't worry too much about that," Himari laughed it off before adjusting her bag strap that was digging into her shoulder a bit. Without wasting another moment, Himari grabbed Moca by the wrist and started to drag her away, "Come on, let's go!"

And it was because of this that Moca was dragged off, not entirely against her will because she was starting to get curious about this new café that Himari was talking about as well. The remainder of the walk there was spent with Himari explaining how good this café was which only served to raise Moca's hopes and expectations.

"Here we are!" Himari announced as she stood in front of a two-story building, the words 'Ruru Café' in big black letters on the front. Himari didn't even wait for Moca to follow her inside; Himari was already gone by the time that Moca had finally finished reading the café's name.

"Hii-chan! Wait for me!" Moca called out before running after her friend and inside the café. And that was when Moca skidded to a halt and tried to process everything that she was seeing.

The interior of the café was, with a lack of a way for Moca to describe it as to herself, certainly interesting. Decorated with wooden furniture that did not look to be too unlike the ones that are used in the Hazawa Café, the Ruru Café also held several abstract paintings on the walls. The tiles on the ground were the purest of white in color and the ceiling was well above Moca's head to make it feel like it was an open space.

Moca would have stood there ogling the café for hours had it not been for Himari walking back to where she was and pulled her along with her.

"First time coming to this café?" Himari asked with a small giggle, relishing the fact that she had found something that Moca was not used to yet. With a smile, Himari guided her to the counter and greeted the barista at the cashier, "Hi, Kazari~ I'll have the usual, and my friend will… what do you want, Moca? How about a Mocha Latte?"

"Very funny…" Moca deadpanned which elicited a laugh from both Himari as well as the girl at the cashier. Deciding that she should probably just ignore the two of them, Moca scanned the menu card for something to get for herself. When Moca finally saw the thing that she was intrigued in she turned back to the cashier, "And a caramel cream coffee for me please."

"Shirai-san! A caramel cream coffee and one Uehara-san Supreme please!" the cashier called out behind her to a girl with tawny-colored hair who waved her hand in the air as an indication that she heard her. With that done the girl, who Moca now knew was the Kazari as that is what Himari had called her, turned back to Himari and asked, "Do you have it with you?"

"Of course!" Himari said as she handed a small card to the cashier with a smile. When she saw the look on Moca's face Himari turned to look at her and said, "Oh yeah, I probably didn't tell you this already… today's café treat is on me."

"You really shouldn't—," Moca began as she was already trying to dig for her wallet in her pocket, but was stopped from pulling it by Himari.

"I'm telling you, Moca, this one is on me," Himari tried to insist as she continued to try and restrain her friend more. When she saw that Moca did not look like she was going to relent anytime soon, Himari was about to try again when Kazari interrupted.

"What Uehara-san is trying to say is that she wants to pay for two drinks," Kazari said as she handed the card and the receipt back to Himari before continuing where she had left off, "Since this is your first time, you would probably not know about the campaign that we are holding: for every two drinks you purchase you get three stickers, and if you buy five drinks you get eight stickers. Collect ten of these stickers and you can win a chance to meet a representative of the idol agency that we are working together with."

"And Hii-chan is really trying to win that opportunity?" Moca asked as Himari simply shuffled nervously in her place. Suppressing a snicker to the best of her ability, Moca then turned to Kazari and nodded appreciatively, "Thank you, have a nice day."

"You too," Kazari said with a smile before she heard something behind her. Without even turning around to see what happened, Kazari instead turned to Moca and Himari and said, "I think your orders are ready."

As if on cue, the girl with tawny-colored hair appeared seemingly from out of thin air beside Kazari with two drinks in hand. One of them was a lightly-colored drink that looked innocent enough on its own, especially when compared to the one that was held in the other hand of the girl.

"Is _that_ the 'Uehara-san Supreme'?!" Moca exclaimed while pointing an accusing finger at the other cup containing many dark layers of liquid in addition to a thick layer of black-colored whipped cream on top. Apparently, Moca's reaction was an amusing one as both girls on the other side of the counter chuckled, "What's so funny?"

"You are new here, are you not?" the girl who had brought Moca and Himari their drinks asked, directing her question to Moca who simply nodded. With a small smile, the girl added, "Uehara-san here comes here often and orders that drink so often that we just decided to call that drink the 'Uehara-san Supreme'. Its original name is a handful so it was not too difficult to get the manager's approval."

"I see…" Moca murmured as she silently accepted her drink while Himari did the same. Turning again to the girl who had made their drinks for them, Moca was about to say her thanks when the girl had seemingly teleported away again. Shrugging it off as the girl just being very dedicated to her work, Moca turned to Himari and motioned for her to lead the way.

With Himari leading the two of them, they soon found an empty table to sit at by the window and plopped down, one of them more graciously so than the other. When both were seated and Himari took a sip of her drink, Moca couldn't help but ask the question that had been on her mind for a while, "What actually… is that…?"

"Just chocolate mixed with more chocolate," Himari shrugged while showing the inside of the cup to Moca, allowing the familiar scent to embrace the taller of the two girls. Having answered that question, Himari rested her chin on her hands and looked at Moca, "And now I want to ask you a couple questions, Moca. If you are okay with that, of course."

"Like?" Moca asked as she eyed the other girl carefully and curiously while trying to think of what Himari would want to ask of her. Fortunately for her, she did not need to suffer in silence for much longer as Moca's question was quickly answered by Himari.

"A lot of things, really. I want to get to know you, Aoba Moca," Himari said as she took another sip of her drink and relished the taste of it. Clearing her throat, Himari continued where she had left off soon after, "We're both friends of Tsugu, so we at least have that much in common, but I want to know more about who you are. We're bound to run into each other more often in the future so why not take the time to learn more about each other now?"

"Huh… that's actually not a bad idea…" Moca admitted with a blank look on her face before a sly grin adorned her features. Before Himari could mentally prepare for what was to come Moca had added, "Who are you and what have you done with the Hii-chan I knew?"

"H-Hey! What's that supposed to mean?!" Himari cried out while looking at Moca with a look of shock and hurt. These feelings didn't last for very long as the two of them ended up smiling soon after.

"But what do you want to know about me, Hii-chan?" Moca asked after a period of comfortable silence between the two of them. Himari, who was about to take another sip of her drink, looked up curiously in time for Moca to continue, "I cannot promise I can answer everything, but is there anything in particular you are curious to know about little old Moca-chan~?"

* * *

"It was amazing, thank you," a tall young man seemingly in his early twenties with burning red hair said as he took out his wallet. Shrugging when he saw the contents of it, he pulled out a few bills and handed them to Tsugumi as his accomplice waited for him by grabbing her parasol, "Here you go. Keep the change, you deserve it."

"Ah, really? Thank you very much! And we hope to see you again soon," Tsugumi said with a radiant smile as she bowed slightly in the direction of the two customers, sheepishly pushing the money in her apron's pocket. With the help of Eve who had come by to help her, Tsugumi cleaned up the table much faster than she would have on her own, much to Tsugumi's relief. Before Eve managed to waddle off to the next table and help those customers, Tsugumi grabbed Eve by the wrist and thanked her properly.

"No worries, Tsugumi-san!" Eve said with a determined nod of her head before an impatient wave and call brought her back to reality. With an apologetic smile, Eve said, "I am sorry, Tsugumi-san. I got to go and see how I can help them."

And with that, Eve removed herself from Tsugumi's grasp and headed towards the patron who had called her over. This left Tsugumi with a tray full of dirty dishes that she brought to the back as fast as she could.

"That sure was nice of him…" Tsugumi thought out loud as she loaded the dishwasher with the dirty dishes one by one, her mind being trained on the huge tip that she had just received. Careful not to accidentally drop any of the dishes on the ground, something that may be happening more often than anyone working at the Hazawa Café would like to admit, Tsugumi closed the dishwasher after she finished loading it and looked around.

It was nearing the end of the lunch break rush and the café was starting to slowly empty out. As much as she liked working, Tsugumi knew that even she had a limit as to how much she would be able to keep up with the many customers. Due to this knowledge of hers, Tsugumi heaved a sigh of relief when she saw that the café was almost empty at this hour.

Which was why she was not expecting to hear the familiar ringing sound to indicate that a new customer had arrived. Wiping her hands quickly at the nearest towel that she could reach, Tsugumi hurried to the entrance to greet the new customer when she skidded to a halt.

"Tomoe-chan?" Tsugumi breathed out when she saw the familiar figure standing in front of her. With a bright smile, Tsugumi added, "It's good to see you here. Are you alone for today?"

"Yeah, Himari is off to work and my sister has holed herself up in her room as always," Tomoe nodded in confirmation as she adjusted her jacket before turning back to Tsugumi. When the redhead saw that Tsugumi was still wearing her work outfit she couldn't help but ask, "Did I come at the wrong time to chat with you, Tsugu?"

"Um…" Tsugumi trailed off before she looked around her to find the clock hanging behind her. When she saw the time and did some mental calculations, she finally answered Tomoe's question, "I'm technically still on shift for another hour or so, but I am sure I can stop by and talk with you now that things have quieted down a bit here."

"That's great! Then I'll take one cappuccino please," Tomoe said with a bright grin, one that was mirrored almost identically by Tsugumi who nodded and headed off after promising to bring it to her shortly. This left Tomoe some time for herself to think of a handful of things including trying to find a table for herself.

Finding a table, however, proved to be a very simple task for Tomoe as there were only three other tables occupied in the entire café. With a smile, Tomoe headed for the table that she sat at the last time she was here and waited for Tsugumi to come and sit with her too.

As Tomoe waited and allowed her gaze to travel around the café a little bit, she couldn't help but notice something very peculiar to her. The floor, that had been clean and pristine the last time she was her, was now covered with a thin carpet. Tomoe was not against the idea as she seemed to have taken a liking to the design of it, but she made a mental note to ask Tsugumi about it.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Tomoe-chan," Tsugumi's voice brought Tomoe back to reality as a cup of hot coffee was placed in front of her and the brunette herself sat on the other end of the table. What surprised Tomoe the most was the fact that Tsugumi had brought three plates with slices of different types of cakes: a brown one, a green one, and a cream-yellow one.

"What are… those…?" Tomoe asked as she pointed at the three cakes that Tsugumi had pulled towards herself, eliciting a surprised look on Tsugumi's face when the brunette realized what was being asked.

"This café doesn't just specialize in coffee; we have a wide assortment of cakes and pastries for sale here, too," Tsugumi said as she pointed to the direction of the display case behind her. Sure enough, when Tomoe looked in that direction she saw all the different types of cakes; much more than Tomoe had ever seen in any one place at the same time. Before Tomoe could say anything else, however, Tsugumi had spoken again, "Normally I would have to pay for these cakes too, but I do get a nice discount because I work here and my parents own this place. But this time I got these three for free because they needed someone to test how they taste before bringing them to the display and start selling them to the customers."

"I see…" Tomoe nodded slowly as she took all of this in, only now starting to understand the life that Tsugumi was living. Letting curiosity guide her actions, Tomoe then asked, "And how are they?"

"This one is pretty good, but I think it would work better with black tea…" Tsugumi murmured after having taken a small bite of the cream-yellow one. Contemplating something before she dug through her pockets to grab a small notepad, Tsugumi turned to Tomoe and asked with an apologetic smile, "Do you mind if I write this down before I forget?"

"Oh no, go right ahead," Tomoe chuckled as she took her own cup and took a sip of it, savoring the perfect blend of the ingredients used in her drink. As she lowered her cup and Tsugumi had pulled the green cake towards her almost ravenously so, Tomoe couldn't help but say what was on her mind, "It's really nice to see you work like this, you know."

"Huh? Did you say something, Tomoe-chan?" Tsugumi asked as she looked up from her cake to face Tomoe. After Tomoe repeated what she had said, Tsugumi took a few moments to think of how to respond before smiling at Tomoe, "Thank you, Tomoe-chan. It's nice working here and I really enjoy it."

"I can definitely see that," Tomoe said with a smile as she turned to Tsugumi at just the right time to see her smile in bliss at the taste of the cake. Trying to suppress her laughter, Tomoe instead said something else entirely, "Seeing Tsugu and Himari work this hard makes me feel bad that I am not making much progress myself."

"Don't be, Tomoe-chan. We all move at our own pace and sometimes things just take longer for some people to achieve than for others," Tsugumi said in a desperate effort to try and cheer her friend up. When this did not seem to have achieved its intended effect, Tsugumi tried again, "And… And how about you, Tomoe-chan? What have you been doing lately?"

"Nothing too big, unfortunately… at least nothing as big as any of you," Tomoe admitted with a defeated sigh as her entire body seemed to slump down entirely. Taking a deep breath, Tomoe turned back to the person who was looking at her with big worried eyes before elaborating on her situation, "I need to find an internship for my university program, but all I could find was an internship at the hospital owned by the Tangleroad Corporation. I haven't been able to dig into what they have been doing in recent years so I am not sure whether I should go for it or not."

"Tangleroad Corporation…" Tsugumi breathed out as she gently placed her fork back on her plate, lowered her head and allowed her bangs to fall in front of her eyes which obscured her vision in the process. The change in tension and temperature did not go unnoticed by the redhead sitting opposite from Tsugumi, and Tomoe was quick to comment on it.

"Tsugu, is something wrong?" Tomoe asked as she eyed her friend carefully. When this did not work, she tried to shake Tsugumi's shoulder gently and repeated her question.

"Ah, I'm sorry, Tomoe-chan," Tsugumi said quickly as she held her hands up in a form of apology. Without missing a beat, Tsugumi added, "I thought that that corporation's name sounded familiar for some reason but I cannot remember why."

"If it was something important then I am sure that you will remember it soon," Tomoe said as she relaxed back into her seat after seeing that Tsugumi was doing better now. Blissfully unaware of the mental struggle going on in Tsugumi's head, Tomoe picked up where she had left off earlier, "My options are either that or going around the city again to see if another place would accept me."

"I'm sure that you will be able to find the best place, Tomoe-chan!" Tsugumi said in an effort to cheer on her friend. When she saw that this did not seem to be having the intended effect, Tsugumi was about to open her mouth yet again when she saw movement in the corner of her eye.

"What's wrong, Tsugu?" Tomoe asked, Tsugumi's odd reaction not going unnoticed by Tomoe at all. She would not be receiving any real response, however, as Tsugumi had jumped to her feet and told Tomoe that she would be back soon. This left Tomoe all alone to sit with her thoughts, "I suppose Himari and I are not the only ones to have problems after all, huh Tsugu?"

* * *

"Eve-chan, what's wrong?" Tsugumi asked as she looked over her friend who was on the floor of the café's kitchen. Along with the two of them were three other people, all part-timers at the Hazawa Café like Tsugumi and Eve were. Without wasting another moment, Tsugumi turned to two of the three other girls and addressed them, "Erii-chan, Banri-chan, can I please ask you to cover the tables and help clean up after—."

"Tsugumi-san…" Eve's shattered voice interrupted Tsugumi as all four standing girls looked down at Eve. Eve, however, had all her attention and energy focused on trying to get back on her feet; something that required the combined effort of the other girls to stop, "Giving up here… is not my style…"

"Eve-chan, you can't!" Tsugumi cried out as Erii and Banri helped Eve to sit down on a nearby chair. After a moment of hesitation, Tsugumi turned to the other three girls before she could speak again, "All right, everyone. We're going to work a bit harder to help cover for Eve-chan! Thankfully, it shouldn't be too busy at this time."

"Yeah, Hazawa-san, about that…" Erii began as she nervously pointed at the front door of the café right when the bell rang. She knew that she didn't need to say anything else as Tsugumi of all people would recognize what just happened, but Erii did anyways, "We seem to have a new customer."

"I'll go and handle it. Can I count on the three of you to help cover for Eve-chan?" Tsugumi asked, directing her question to the other girls beside Eve who all nodded in confirmation. Feeling reassured that she could rely on them, Tsugumi took a menu card with her and hurried over to where the new customer would be waiting for her, "I'm sorry to keep you wait—?!"

The next thing that happened was the resounding and reverberating sound of the menu card falling on the ground as Tsugumi's body froze. No matter how much she wanted to say or do something to break free of this situation, Tsugumi's body just would not cooperate.

* * *

 **And that wraps up today's chapter! I hope that you all enjoyed it, please leave a review telling me what you thought, and until next time! Take care!**


	8. A Chance Encounter

**So I hope people can accept and get used to this slower update speed for the time being. Believe me, if I could I would publish a new chapter on a weekly basis, but alas I cannot. That being said, I hope I can return back to biweekly when I finish my university, but that won't be until January, effectively…**

 **Anyways, a special thank you goes straight to LightZephyr for helping me with beta-reading this chapter as she always does.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own BanG Dream! Girls Band Party**

* * *

"Are you absolutely sure about this?"

Moca could hear the hesitation in those words and… was that fear? She shrugged her head vigorously to get rid of her own hesitation before she finally took the time to respond to the question properly.

"I am absolutely sure about this, yeah," Moca said with a small nod while making sure that she didn't break eye contact whatsoever, knowing full well what would happen if she were to break away. When Moca saw that this was seemingly not enough she tried again, "Please, Misaki-chin. You are the only one I can count on right now…"

"All right, fine…" the black-haired girl sitting on the other end of the table said with a defeated sigh while digging through her purse. It did not take her long to finally find what she was looking for and, once she pulled her hand back out, she handed the folded piece of paper to Moca, "Don't say I didn't warn you about this and don't even think of coming crawling to me later, got it? And don't tell anyone I told you about this."

"O~kay~," Moca grinned while carefully pocketing the piece of paper and looked over the menu card before offering it to her friend, "Do you want to order anything on here while we are in the best café of the city anyway?"

"No thank you, Aoba-san, I have to get going," Misaki said as she gathered her belongings and stood up. After she had gone through her purse to make sure she had not forgotten anything, she turned to Moca one last time before she ended up leaving, "Good luck, Aoba-san. I hope you can find the answers that you are looking for."

"Thank you, Misaki-chin~," Moca smiled while she waved her friend off who left the Hazawa Café soon after. With nobody else to keep her mind occupied, Moca took out the piece of paper she had gotten from her friend once again and read through it.

An address was written on the piece of paper in a messy handwriting, almost as if the owner had jotted the letters down in a rush. That said, Moca could still read it and recognize where it would take her.

"Well, no use trying to stay around here then!" Moca said to herself as she followed Misaki's example before her and took her leave. Even if she was not sure whether or not this would be what she was looking for, Moca knew that she could no longer sit still knowing that there was an opportunity to find out now. She was going after this even if it was the last thing that she would do.

* * *

"I guess it may have been a bit much coming here after all…" Moca chuckled to herself as she looked at the big building in front of her, wondering why she hadn't thought of listening to her friend more earlier that day. Grasping her blue constellation-themed bracelet tightly, Moca couldn't help but mutter softly, "I don't know why Misaki-chin insisted I bring this…"

Moca currently found herself in a part of the city that she hadn't traversed much of in the past and, as such, even had to ask for directions from a handful of passersby. With their help and a little bit of luck, she finally reached her destination: a house so large that it dwarfed any other building in the entire street in comparison. Moca had to double check to convince herself that this was the right place and, unless she was horribly mistaken it, it was.

Without giving her hesitation and fears enough time to get the better of her, Moca rung the doorbell of the large house in front of her and waited. And waited.

When half an hour had already passed and there was no response from the person inside, Moca sighed and was about to accept her losses when the door creaked open. The fact that the door of such a grand and beautiful building was creaking was enough to distract Moca away from seeing who had just opened the door.

"Ah! I-It's you…" a meek voice came from the doorway which startled Moca in more ways than one. Not only was Moca too focused on the door to realize that there was somebody behind the door but that voice itself sounded familiar to Moca. When Moca took a moment to turn and look at the person who was hiding behind the door she saw that her suspicions were confirmed: it was indeed who she thought it was going to be.

"Rinko-san!" Moca exclaimed as she rushed over to the young woman who opened the door wider in the process. As a result of this Moca could see that it really was Rinko, but what she saw was not something that she was expecting, "Um, Rinko-san…? What is… that?"

"This?" Rinko asked as she looked at her clothes in surprise, wondering what was so special about her white dress that could have caught Moca's interest as much as it did. She did not let this deter her, however, and tried to give Moca a straight answer as soon as possible, "It is a dress… that my mother designed and made… for me."

"I wasn't talking about the dress," Moca said, interrupting Rinko in the process and pointing at Rinko's wrist instead. As Rinko turned her gaze there to see what Moca was pointing at, Moca continued while raising her own wrist to show the identical blue constellation-themed bracelet that was there, "Where did you get that?"

"I see… so that is why Aoba-san is…" Rinko trailed off with a gentle smile as her hands were loosely wrapped around her own bracelet. As she looked over at Moca with a calculating gaze, one that startled Moca enough that she did not even realize that Rinko had gotten a lot calmer and more confident, Rinko finally nodded and motioned for Moca to follow her, "I think that there are a lot of things that we will be able to talk about, Aoba-san. Please follow me and we can talk inside."

"O…kay…" Moca breathed out as she watched Rinko disappear into the house. Moca took a moment to think things through and weigh her options but was quick to come to the conclusion that she really did not have a good reason to turn back now. She was the one who came to Rinko, after all, even if she had no idea that it would be Rinko she would be seeing.

* * *

"Ah, Eve-chan, are you okay now? How is your leg?" Tsugumi asked as she eyed her friend and coworker with a worried glance. Tsugumi knew that she could not force Eve to call in sick now that she had come all the way here for her shift but she couldn't help but worry, "If you aren't feeling well I can ask Erii-chan to help cover for you more, right?"

As the words left Tsugumi's mouth, the girl standing beside Tsugumi was nodding her head vigorously in confirmation. Both of them were ignored, however, as Eve simply forced her way past them and grabbed a menu card and notepad.

"I appreciate the offer, Tsugumi-san, Erii-san," Eve began as she adjusted her apron before turning back to her two friends, "But today is my shift and it will be a dishonor to run away from it for something like this."

"'Something like this'?!" Erii exclaimed in shock as she looked at Eve with wide eyes. The shortest among the three girls seemed like she had a lot more things that she wished to voice, but Tsugumi's hand being shoved in front of her face stopped her. As a result of this, Erii focused her attention on Tsugumi before asking, "H-Hazawa-san?"

"If Eve-chan is sure then there is nothing else that anyone can say that could change her mind," Tsugumi said with a small smile, but Erii did not know if Tsugumi said this to her or herself. Before Erii knew what was happening, Tsugumi had already taken off her own apron and started folding it, "Eve-chan, if something happens and you feel unwell then please tell me, okay? I'll probably stay around the café for a bit so just give the signal."

"Of course, Tsugumi-san," Eve said with a nod and a smile, an action that was mirrored by the brunette standing across from her. As soon as this exchange was completed and Eve had already left to receive the orders of a couple sitting in the corner of the café, Erii turned to Tsugumi.

"Hazawa-san, are you sure about this?" Erii asked the taller brunette with a worried look in Tsugumi's direction. When Tsugumi nodded in confirmation, Erii let out a sigh but didn't try to oppose Tsugumi's viewpoint. She did do something else, however, and pointed at the two people who had just entered the café, "Hazawa-san, isn't that Aoba-san?"

Tsugumi squinted her eyes to try and make out the person who had just entered the café. It was indeed Moca who was standing there, but what surprised Tsugumi the most was that her childhood friend was not alone. It wasn't until Tsugumi had approached the two of them that she could make out who it was.

"Ah, Tsugu, perfect timing! Is there a table that Rinko-san and I can sit at?" Moca asked as soon as she saw that her friend was within hearing distance, motioning in Rinko's direction to make sure Tsugumi knew who Rinko was. Moca was already looking around her to see for herself if the best seats were already taken and, unfortunately for her, they were.

"You were already here this morning; don't you think that going here twice in a day is a bit much?" Tsugumi responded with a small smile, but the glint of mischief in her eyes was something that anyone could pick up if they paid attention. Ignoring the whine from her friend, Tsugumi added, "I'm kidding I'm kidding. I am afraid that I am not on a shift right now, but I am sure there's a good table for you two."

"Actually, since you don't have a shift now anyway…" Moca trailed off as she turned to look at Rinko who nodded in response to Moca's unvoiced question. As soon as she got this, Moca turned back to Tsugumi and smiled, "Why don't you join us, Tsugu?"

"Is that okay?" Tsugumi asked as she looked at both Moca and Rinko for confirmation. When neither of them made any indication that they were against the idea, Tsugumi nodded cheerfully and motioned for the two of them to follow her, "All right then, let's find a nice table for us."

"Ah, before that…" Moca said as she seemed to shuffle a little in her place while looking surprisingly nervous. Without wasting another second, Moca made a beeline for the toilets after calling out something that sounded a lot like that she would join her friends as soon as she was done.

This left Tsugumi to stand around alone with Rinko, but neither girl remained quiet for long.

"If you are here now then is it safe for me to assume that everything went well, Rinko-san?" Tsugumi asked the young woman standing beside her who simply nodded in confirmation. With a smile, Tsugumi added, "Thank you for your help, Rinko-san. And sorry for calling you about it so suddenly…"

"That is okay, please do not worry about it. It was actually quite fun to get to know Aoba-san like that," Rinko responded with a fond smile as she continued to look around her. Not wasting another second, Rinko added, "We should probably hurry and find a table to sit at before Aoba-san grows suspicious."

"Right, please follow me," Tsugumi said as she took the lead and the two of them soon found themselves at a table by the window that was nicely placed away from the center of the café. Not long after the two of them had sat down, Moca joined them and sat at their table as well so Tsugumi greeted her, "Welcome back, Moca-chan!"

"It's good to finally be back; Moca-chan almost got lost three times trying to find you, Tsugu," Moca said while placing the back of her hand against her forehead. Effortlessly hiding the smirk that threatened to surface, Moca added in a serious tone, "So… have the two of you already introduced yourself to each other or does Moca-chan need to guide you step by step~?"

"That would not be necessary, Aoba-san," Rinko said with a small nod, one that Tsugumi mirrored silently. Without giving Moca any other hint at what was going on, Rinko turned to Tsugumi with a smile before adding, "Hazawa-san, how about you tell Aoba-san what you were planning to do?"

"'Planning to do'?" Tsugumi echoed with a blank look in her eyes, it was very clear that she had no idea what the older woman was talking about. When Rinko made a subtle but very meaningful motion with her head, Tsugumi finally realized what she was talking about and tried to fall into step, "Oh, that? Ah yes, right, I probably should…"

"What are you two talking about?" Moca asked, leaning forward in an effort to try and pick up something from the conversation that she may have had missed. This was to no avail, however, so Moca had to change gears a little, "What's going on? Why won't you tell little old Moca-chan? Tsugu… I thought we were friends…"

"Ah, I'm sorry, Moca-chan!" Tsugumi cried out almost immediately in shock, worry, and a bit of guilt. She was about to say something when Moca playfully waved off Tsugumi's words of concern and asked her what was going on, "Well, to tell you the truth… I have been thinking of going out together as a whole group and get to know each other a bit better. Unfortunately, Banri-chan and Erii-chan already have plans for the day, but I already asked Himari-chan, Tomoe-chan, Eve-chan, and Rinko-san and they can all come."

"Even you?" Moca asked, directing the question to Rinko who nodded in confirmation and muttering something about Moca being away for a very long time. As soon as she had heard the news, Moca turned back to Tsugumi, "And you decided to ask me last, because…?"

"Well, um…" Tsugumi trailed off, looking surprisingly nervous as she tried to find a way to escape Moca's wrath. Unfortunately for her, none of the workers at the café were around to save her, there were no other customers in this part of the café, and Rinko had grown surprisingly interested in her own fingernails at some point. With no escape route for the brunette, she took a deep breath and steeled herself for what was to come, "Because we wanted to make sure everyone would be able to come before we tried asking you, Moca-chan."

A short period of silence followed where Moca was trying to take all of this in as Tsugumi and Rinko were both waiting to hear how Moca would react. After what could very well have been hours but was in actuality only a few seconds, Moca finally revealed what was on her mind.

"You know you don't need to do that for me, Tsugu," Moca said with a deadpan, though even Rinko could hear the undertone of gratitude in her voice. In an effort to try and save her pride, Moca tried to shift the attention away from her and asked, "So where and when will it be? If you say that you planned to ask me last on purpose then I am going to be very upset if you don't know anything yet, Tsugu."

"Himari-chan is going back home to spend the rest of the month with her family starting next week Friday, and Rinko-san still has her schedule full until Wednesday..." Tsugumi trailed off while looking at Rinko who nodded in confirmation. Turning back to Moca who had already figured out what Tsugumi was about to say, the brunette continued, "So that only leaves the Thursday, I'm afraid… that works for you, right Moca-chan?"

"It's not like you left Moca-chan with a lot of choices, now did you, Tsugu?" Moca said with a small smile and a shrug, but Tsugumi could tell how Moca was feeling from the look in her eyes. Sure enough, Moca sighed before nodding, "I'm in."

"Now that we have all agreed and resolved this issue, I will be taking my leave," Rinko said while standing up from her seat and grabbing her belongings. When Rinko saw the looks that she was getting, she knew that she had to give a clear explanation and quickly said, "My apologies, Aoba-san, Hazawa-san, but I completely forgot that I had another appointment today. I need to hurry if I do not want to come late, so please excuse me."

With a small bow and without saying another word, Rinko ran out of the café and allowed Moca to be alone with Tsugumi again before either of them could do anything. The two of them fell into silence, but this would not last as one of them could not contain the question that had been on her mind.

"Tsugu, please be honest with me…" Moca began as she trailed off for a bit and allowed her words to linger in the air for a while longer. She did this not because she needed time to think of a way to continue her sentence but to receive a reaction from her friend; when Moca finally turned to look at Tsugumi she knew it succeeded, so she decided against waiting any longer, "How long have you known Rinko-san?"

"W-What are you talking about, Moca-chan? I only met Rinko-san just now when you two came to the café," Tsugumi tried to at first, but she quickly realized that this would not be enough. Accepting this, Tsugumi took a deep breath before facing her childhood friend, "I actually knew Rinko-san from when I was still neighbors with Himari-chan. They went to the same school so I ran into Rinko-san every now and then when I went to visit Himari-chan."

"So that is how Rinko-san was so comfortable around you as well," Moca said with a smile as she looked at the door that Rinko had left the café out of. Moving over to play around with the bracelet around her wrist, Moca added in a mutter, "And why she would be able to know so much about this…"

"I'm sorry for not telling you earlier, Moca-chan," Tsugumi said in a deflated tone. Having lowered her head in shame as the words left her mouth, the brunette was shaken back to reality by Moca's hand stirring her shoulder. With a shaky smile, Tsugumi asked, "So what did you and Rinko-san talk about, Moca-chan?"

"Nothing too out of the ordinary, really," Moca said as she tried to remember exactly how she had spent her time with Rinko earlier that day. After taking a few moments for this, Moca gave Tsugumi a more concrete answer, "We just ended up getting to know each other and Rinko-san told me more about the bracelet. I didn't know that there was only one other bracelet like this one; as expected of Ran."

Moca fell silent almost immediately after she finished talking; everything seemed to fade out into nothingness and it was even as if the temperature had dropped by ten degrees soon after. Both girls realized this and were quick to react, but one of them was stopped to actually act out by a shiver that had frozen her in her spot.

"I'm sorry, I have to go," Moca said in a hurry as she gathered her belongings and stood up from her seat. After making a conscious effort to avoid looking at Tsugumi directly, Moca added, "I'm going home now. If you need me, you know where to find me!"

"Ah! Moca-chan!" Tsugumi cried out, reaching out on instinct but grasping empty air instead. She was too late; Moca had already left. As this realization started to sink in, Tsugumi slumped down and berated herself for not doing something more for her friend.

Tsugumi would have been all alone if two people did not choose that moment to sit at the table and occupy the empty chairs of Moca and Rinko. Tsugumi didn't even look up as she addressed the newcomers, both of them returning the greeting.

"That didn't end up very well, did it, Tsugu?" the sympathetic voice of Tomoe came from Tsugumi's left at about the same moment when the brunette felt a hand on her shoulder. At a slower pace than before, almost as if she were afraid of saying the wrong thing that might result in things spiraling out of control, Tomoe added, "W-Well… at least she didn't seem to have reacted too badly about the whole idea, right?"

"That's right, Tsugu! Moca didn't run out because the idea of the group dinner was a horrible one," Himari, who sat on Tsugumi's right, said while waving her arms in the air animatedly in an effort to help ease Tsugumi's worries. Not seeing the warning look on Tomoe's face, Himari continued, "You got to make the little things count, Tsugu!"

"You know… if Moca-chan were here she would really punish you for leaving yourself wide open like that, Himari-chan," Tsugumi said in a monotonous voice that almost made it sound like a threat. Letting out a soft sigh in an effort to calm herself down, Tsugumi slumped down some more in her seat, "And I must say that I am tempted to do so, too… but you're both right… thank you, Tomoe-chan, Himari-chan."

"No problem, Tsugu!" Tomoe grinned as she stood up and walked over to Himari's side. When Himari looked up at the redhead, Tomoe said, "We should probably make sure we got everything covered. Say, Himari, what is thirty times five divided by two?"

"Um… wouldn't that be…" Himari trailed off as a flustered look started to adorn her features and she began digging around for her phone in her purse soon after. A few seconds after she held the device in her hand, Himari looked back up at Tomoe and said, "Seventy-five, but why did you ask that? Wouldn't you be able to figure that out faster than I would?"

"I did exactly what you told Tsugu to do just now," Tomoe said with a smile while seeming to have problems hiding her amusement. Tsugumi stood up and quickly excused herself, perhaps in part due to knowing what Tomoe was about to say next, muttering something about needing to check up on something as an excuse. Tsugumi was not quite sure if either Himari or Tomoe had heard her, however, but this did not deter her from actually leaving the table.

Sure enough, Tsugumi could hear Himari's indignant cry not too long after she had left. This cry, coupled by the fact that she could hear Moca's voice resound in her ears and saying the same line that Tomoe had said just now, made it even harder for Tsugumi to keep a straight face. She somehow managed to remain calm and walk away, and soon found herself in the kitchen of the café where Erii was busy washing the dishes.

"Ah, Erii-chan, have you seen Eve-chan?" Tsugumi asked as she saw that she had her friend's and coworker's attention. Erii nodded in the direction of the changing rooms and, after thanking Erii for the information, Tsugumi went there to see Eve sitting against the wall, "Eve-chan! Are you okay?"

"I am fine, Tsugumi-san," Eve said with a weak smile that she tried to use to make sure that Tsugumi would believe her, but it only served to make Tsugumi more worried. When Eve saw this, she quickly added, "I am just resting after a busy shift. My leg has not healed completely yet and I may have forced myself a bit too much today."

"Please make sure not to push yourself too hard, Eve-chan," Tsugumi said as she sat down by Eve's side and kept her company. As she did, Eve offered her a small bottle but Tsugumi politely declined, "On that note, Moca-chan has been informed about our plans for next week. You can come with us, right Eve-chan?"

"I already told you that I could, did I not?" Eve asked with a raised eyebrow, looking at Tsugumi curiously as the words left her mouth. Smiling shortly after, Eve added, "Besides, as selfish as this is I want to see Moca-san's face on Thursday."

'Believe me, Eve-chan… so do I…' Tsugumi thought to herself as both of them fell into a comfortable silence together; a silence that neither one of them wanted to break…

* * *

"How could I have slipped up like that?!"

Moca's shout of frustration was followed soon after by the resounding clash of her fist hitting the concrete wall in front of her. Moca did not care about the throbbing pain in her knuckles or the thin streams of blood that trickled down her fingers; as a matter of fact, she savored this feeling. Moca was panting heavily until even minutes after, but it did not seem like she would move any time soon.

After leaving the Hazawa Café in a hurry, Moca had allowed her legs to carry her off somewhere far away. She did not care where it was as long as it was far enough away where nobody could find her, which was how Aoba Moca was currently finding herself in a dark alley with nobody around her to hear her. Exactly like she wanted things to be.

"Tsugu is still upset about what happened to Ran as well, and all I am doing is being a burden for her!" Moca cried out before her knees shook and gave way, dropping herself on to the rough and hard ground as a result. Allowing her bangs to fall in front of her eyes and obscure her vision, Moca used this to hide the fact that her eyes were overflowing with tears now.

Moca remained on the ground for a very long time after that as her mind swirled with thousands of thoughts, each one louder than the last. None of them, however, were very pleasant for her to hear as she just stayed there. Completely powerless to change what had happened.

Moca was about to start and try to calm herself down when she heard something; she was not alone in that alley, and this knowledge was enough to bring her back to reality. Wiping away the tears from her face with the back of her hand, Moca jumped back to her feet and turned in the direction of the sound.

"Who are you! Show yourself!" Moca shouted at the top of her lungs while looking around, her features hardened and her hands tightened into fists to hide the fact that they were shaking. Moca was about to reach for her purse where a pair of obsidian-colored blades were locked in a hidden compartment when she finally saw movement.

The person standing before Moca was a young woman who could not be a whole lot older than she was and definitely was not a whole lot taller than she was, either. She was wearing a hood that obscured her face in the shadows but still allowed her long hair to flow down her face and reach well around her waist.

"Fancy running into you here of all places, Moca," the figure said in a voice that managed to sound both familiar and alien to Moca. When this mysterious woman saw Moca's confusion, she tried to speak again to elicit a reaction from Moca, "Has it really been so long that you forgot all about me, Moca?"

"Who… are you?" Moca breathed out, her eyes wide as she looked at the woman in front of her. Moca knew that deep down she knew who this person was, but her brain would not cooperate with her and give her a name.

Right when the silence between the two young women was about to become awkwardly long, the mysterious woman lowered her hood and revealed a face to Moca. A face that Moca had not seen in a long time.

"It's good that you finally recognize me again, and I am sure that you have a lot of questions but this is not the time or place for that," the woman, who had now shown who she was to Moca, said with a small but sad smile. Pulling her hood back up to hide her face once again, she turned around and added, "But if you would like to talk with me, then follow me. We will go somewhere that is more suitable for a conversation after all this time that we have not seen each other. It has been a few years, after all, has it not?"

The hooded woman left the alley but was courteous enough to wait for Moca to make a move before disappearing from sight. Moca, on the other hand, was rooted to the spot without knowing what she should do. She really wanted to have that talk with this old friend of hers, but was she really ready for it? Would she really be able to hold a meaningful conversation with her after so many years of separation?

Moca gulped as she slowly felt her resolve weaken and start to lean more towards one of the two options. Taking a deep breath to help calm herself down and wiping her hands on her pants to dry them from the sweat, tears, and blood, Moca allowed one final thought to pass through her mind before she made her choice.

* * *

 **That will be all for today, thank you for taking the time out of your day to read this, I will thank you even more if you leave a review on this chapter telling me what you thought of the chapter, and until next time in about a month's worth of time! Take care!**


	9. The Truth About the Past?

**Before we start with this chapter, I just want to get this off my chest: the last chapter was certainly fun to write, and I did enjoy reading everybody's reviews for that chapter. Everybody who _did_ leave a review, yes, but for those who did: thank you very much for sharing what your thoughts and opinions on the chapter were. Some of you even wrote out what you think will happen in chapters to come, and while I cannot confirm or deny anything… it was definitely fun to read through them all and have a conversation with all of you about that. Please, do keep the reviews coming as they are what I use to determine how well this story is doing.**

 **With all that said… I love this chapter and I hope that all of you will love it, too. Tell me in the reviews what you think about it and if you really did end up loving it as well~!**

 **This will be the first chapter of this story to not be beta read by my beta-reader, LightZephyr, so let's see how well I managed to fare on my own, shall we?**

 **Disclaimer's the same as always, but since I don't know whether or not you guys even read them I'll repeat myself again: I do not own BanG Dream! Girls Band Party**

* * *

 _Right when the silence between the two young women was about to become awkwardly long, the mysterious woman lowered her hood and revealed a face to Moca. A face that Moca had not seen in a long time._

 _"It's good that you finally recognize me again, and I am sure that you have a lot of questions but this is not the time or place for that," the woman, who had now shown who she was to Moca, said with a small but sad smile. Pulling her hood back up to hide her face once again, she turned around and added, "But if you would like to talk with me, then follow me. We will go somewhere that is more suitable for a conversation after all this time that we have not seen each other. It has been a few years, after all, has it not?"_

 _The hooded woman left the alley but was courteous enough to wait for Moca to make a move before disappearing from sight. Moca, on the other hand, was rooted to the spot without knowing what she should do. She really wanted to have that talk with this old friend of hers, but was she really ready for it? Would she really be able to hold a meaningful conversation with her after so many years of separation?_

 _Moca gulped as she slowly felt her resolve weaken and start to lean more towards one of the two options. Taking a deep breath to help calm herself down and wiping her hands on her pants to dry them from the sweat, tears, and blood, Moca allowed one final thought to pass through her mind before she made her choice._

It wasn't long until Moca, who had been following her friend for an hour now, was finally rewarded for her efforts: the two of them were standing in front of an apartment complex that Moca could only assume would be where her friend was living in nowadays.

'It doesn't seem much like her to stay here of all places, though…' Moca thought with a frown as her friend motioned for her to follow her inside. Despite not being completely sure yet, Moca knew that she couldn't back away now of all times; before she had realized it, the two of them were already standing in front of an open apartment door… and this was where Moca regained her footing.

Deciding that she was through waiting, Moca made up her mind about what to do next.

"Don't you think that it is about time that you told me more about what is going on?" Moca asked as she slowly followed her friend into the apartment before standing in the doorway, making it clear that she would not move until she had received a reply that satisfied her enough. With a small frown, Moca added, "How about you start telling me about what happened back then and what you have been doing all this time? It's been three years and you've only now shown yourself to me!"

"You're right… I owe you at least that much…" the other woman said as she turned around and looked away from Moca. Letting out a dejected sigh, she turned back to Moca and asked, "You wouldn't mind if I were to quickly change my clothes, would you? This isn't particularly comfy to walk around in, nor is it really my style."

"I have waited three years already, I think I can wait three more minutes," Moca muttered but motioned for her friend that it was fine and that she would wait patiently for her return. As soon as Moca was alone in the living room of the apartment, she took her time to really look around the place and reacquaint herself with who her friend had become, "A lot sure has changed after all this time…"

The first thing that Moca noticed was that there were no pictures in the room at all, which was something that surprised her the most. Instead of framed photos, Moca saw a variety of different tapestries, paintings, and posters on the walls, and while they were amazing in their own right…

"It just isn't like her to be decorating her apartment like this…" Moca trailed off as she traced the lines on the patterns of one such painting that was within reach for her. The intricate design reminded her of a bird rising from the ashes and it wasn't long until Moca found herself drawn into the design. It took the familiar sound of footsteps coming in her direction to divert Moca's attention from the decorations and bring her back to the present.

Turning around in the direction of the sound hopefully, Moca was surprised to see somebody else standing in front of her. This revelation did not seem to bother her too much; instead, it actually caused Moca to relax and smile a knowing smile when she saw who the person was, "I guess this answers my question why this place is decorated like that. No offense, Minato-san."

"None taken," Yukina said calmly without a hint of emotion on her face, instead she walked right past Moca to the cupboard in the kitchen area. Moca heard the rummaging of things before she heard Yukina call her name, "Aoba-san, would you like some coffee?"

"Well, since Minato-san offered… yes please," Moca said with a smile before plopping down and making herself comfortable on the couch, one of the very few pieces of furniture that she remembered in this place. As the comforting aroma of the brewing coffee filled the air, Moca could not help but ask, "So, Minato-san… how long have the two of you been together, anyway?"

"About two years," the answer came, but not from Yukina who was still in the kitchen preparing the coffee. Instead, it was from the person who had made Moca follow her all the way here; she had re-entered the room after she finished changing her clothes, a towel wrapped around her damp hair and a chocolate-covered biscuit stick in her mouth. She was wearing a beige jacket over a white shirt, a red plaid bow, and a skirt, along with white socks and brown slippers. With a smile, she plopped down on the spot beside Moca and said, "Sorry to keep you waiting, Moca."

"You could also be saying that for making me wait for years," Moca grumbled with hints at a pout, but even she could not hide the grin that threatened to surface. Instead of trying to suppress it, however, Moca relented and tackled her long-time friend, "It's good to see you again, Lisa-san!"

"It is good to be back, sorry I disappeared without a trace," Lisa said as she returned the embrace, unable to keep herself from smiling either. After the familiar clinking sound of a cup being placed on the table, Lisa broke away and smiled at the woman who sat on her other side, "Thank you, Yukina~ you did get yourself something too, right?"

"I did, but it is still brewing," Yukina said matter of factly without looking up and without responding to what Lisa did next. Instead, Yukina smoothened out her blouse and added, "Is it not about time you told Aoba-san here everything? As Aoba-san has said, it has been years since you last interacted with her, so she deserves at least some sort of explanation."

"Um… 'interacted'?" Moca repeated with a blank look on her face, but she went mostly ignored. With a small pout, Moca raised her mug back to her mouth to keep herself pre-occupied with something else.

"Of course of course," Lisa said with a soft chuckle as she dug through the drawers in front of her, seemingly trying to find something. After a while where she was going through stack after stack of papers, Lisa finally re-emerged holding two big binders. Shrugging, Lisa handed one of them to Moca who accepted it, "Here you go, Moca. Go through that and then we can talk about what happened."

"Okay…" Moca breathed out, her fingers trembling at the thought of finally being able to find out what happened all those years ago. Was she ready for this? Could she handle the truth already? Taking a shaky breath and trying to convince herself that she is, Moca steeled herself as she slowly opened the binder; only for the binder to be filled with something that Moca had not expected it to be filled.

Instead of photographs or documents like she had thought would fill the pages in the binder, Moca saw rows and rows of pictures that depicted Yukina either playing with a pair of kittens, eating ice cream on a bench or looking off into the sunset. Before she had time to fully process the scenes in the pictures, however, the binder was ripped from her hands.

"LISA!" an indignant cry resonated through the room as Yukina was found standing a few steps away from the couch. The former vocalist had a crimson face as she held the binder close to her only for her to add, "Why did you give Aoba-san this one?!"

"Sorry sorry, I must have mistaken it for the right one," Lisa apologized while scratching the back of her head sheepishly, genuinely ashamed for her mistake. To avoid making the same mistake, the brunette opened the other binder in her lap to make sure that it was the right one before handing it over to Moca, "This one should be the right one."

"Moca-chan honestly doesn't know what was so wrong about that last—" Moca tried to start her reply but was cut short by Yukina throwing a pillow at her face. Fortunately for Moca, Yukina had a bad aim, but this did help convey the intended message to Moca who dropped the subject entirely.

Moca cleared her throat awkwardly before she looked at the binder with an almost shaky look in her eyes. With both Lisa and Yukina watching her intently, Moca knew that this time it was not a mistake; she was actually holding the binder that held all the information that she had been waiting for for so long. The question was whether or not she was ready for it.

"Moca?"

Lisa's gentle and worried voice shook Moca back to reality, and Moca looked up into the eyes of her senior. Neither of them said anything for the next half minute, but they both knew exactly what the other was thinking. It was almost as if they had a silent telepathic conversation just now, and it had clear effects on Moca.

"I'm okay…" Moca muttered, but it was not clear whether she was saying those words to herself or to the others in the room with her. With a deep breath to make sure that she did not just lie again, Moca steeled herself before she opened the binder in her lap. Much to Moca's surprise, the contents of the binder was similar to the one that Moca had opened earlier; so much so that she thought that she had the wrong binder again. But then she noticed what was depicted in the photographs and a chill ran down her spine.

Taking a shaky breath to try and calm herself down after seeing the information that had been presented to her, Moca hesitantly flipped to the next page. The moment her eyes landed on the photograph in the middle of the page it felt like her heart had stopped beating and all the air was knocked out of her lungs. Moca's eyes seemed like they were devoid of the light that they usually had as her entire body began trembling heavily. Moca remained in this state for an extended period of time until she slowly turned her head to face Lisa.

"I am afraid that it is all true, Moca," Lisa said with an almost apologetic smile on her face as she reached out to touch Moca's shoulder. The touch was very much welcomed and Lisa, who saw that she was getting through to Moca, added hopefully, "I got all of this information from a good friend of mine. She may not seem like it but nobody beats her when it comes to finding information like this. I think it might have taken me more than seven years to do what she did in only three."

"And who is that friend?" Moca's voice was meek but still surprisingly audible for those around her. When Lisa did not give Moca an answer right away, Moca tried again, "Lisa-san, who gave you this information?"

"You're not going to like the answer…" Lisa trailed off while looking away, almost as if she were in pain. Knowing that she could not stall for time forever, especially against Moca, Lisa took a deep breath and told Moca the answer to her question.

The next thing that Lisa knew was happening was that Moca had jumped up from her seat, tackled her against the back of the coach and started growling at the brunette in a very un-Moca-like manner, "Why, Lisa-san?! Of all people… of all the people you could have gone to in order to get this… why her?! Why did you go to her?!"

Lisa did not flinch when Moca started shaking her vigorously, nor did she even seem to mind what was happening to her at all. She silently allowed herself to be handled by Moca in whichever way the younger girl deemed necessary, and this somehow only served to anger Moca more. That Lisa was not even fighting back.

"Why did you—?!"

"Because Ran was my friend, too!" Lisa burst out all of a sudden, finally snapping as she glared at Moca whose grip had slackened considerably. Lisa took this opportunity to remove Moca's hands from her jacket, straightened out her shirt and skirt and added in a much calmer and gentler voice, "I may not have known her as well or as long as you have, but Ran was my friend too, Moca. And this investigation meant just as much to me as it did to you because of that."

Before Moca could say or do anything else, Lisa had stood up and walked away without saying another word. This left a still baffled Moca alone with a Yukina who had been observing this entire exchange silently, neither of them knowing how to break the silence that followed.

"You know, Aoba-san…" Yukina finally began as she sat back down on the couch and broke the silence after several minutes had passed. Yukina's slow reaction being fueled by her lack of experience at being thrown in such a situation and not out of malice, Yukina tried to think of a way to pick back up, "Lisa has been working really hard on this for you, being respectful to her would be the least you can do to appreciate her efforts."

"I know, Minato-san… I didn't mean to snap like that…" Moca admitted begrudgingly, still shaking slightly after her earlier exchange with her old friend. Taking a deep breath to try and calm herself down in an effort to prevent herself from saying something she would regret later, Moca turned to face Yukina, "Did Lisa-san… really go to that person?"

"She did, and it went about as well as you might have guessed…" Yukina trailed off as the memory of that day came flooding back. Before Yukina could stop herself, she was already recounting what had happened two years ago to Moca.

* * *

 _A seventeen-year-old Yukina was walking down the streets and pondering over the meaning of the last song that she heard, blissfully unaware of the weird stares that she was getting from passersby. The vocalist was wearing a small pink neck scarf, a long-sleeved black jacket, a pink plaid skirt and wearing a pair of heeled boots._

 _Yukina was softly humming the tune of the song when she found herself at her destination: a familiar house standing tall in front of her. Shaking her head to get rid of the annoying thoughts plaguing her mind, Yukina stepped up to knock on the front door when the door swung open on its own._

 _'Why did the door—it can't be!' Yukina thought to herself as a wave of fear washed over her being, prompting her to throw the door wide open and dash inside. As soon as she was in the house she knew that something was wrong and it did not take her very long to find out what it was._

 _"Lisa!" Yukina cried out when she saw the motionless figure in the middle of the hallway before running towards her. As soon as Yukina was by Lisa's side she looked her friend over quickly to find something that was amiss but couldn't quite find it._

 _Lisa was lying on her back, her bangs obscuring her closed eyes and her mouth slightly agape. Her face was paler than it usually was, but Yukina knew that Lisa would be all right; the vocalist was certain that she felt a heartbeat when she had checked for a pulse. With a soft sigh of relief, Yukina lowered Lisa's head on her lap to rest before taking a look around her._

 _"What caused Lisa to collapse like this…?" Yukina thought out loud as she tried to find the answer to her own question. Unfortunately for her, it was not easy to find it as the hallway looked like it normally did… had it not been for the binder lying a few meters away from where Lisa's hand originally was._

 _Yukina was about to reach out for the binder to see what was in it, her curiosity getting the better of her, when she felt something grabbing her wrist. Much to her surprise, it was Lisa who was holding her back, and it was a severely weakened Lisa who spoke soon after._

 _"Don't… touch that… Yukina…" Lisa muttered through gritted teeth, her voice strained as if she were trying hard to just keep her composure. Pulling Yukina closer to her so she didn't have to speak loudly, Lisa added in a whisper, "You shouldn't… that thing is… from that place…"_

 _"'That place…'? Lisa, you don't mean the place that I think you are talking about, right?!" Yukina cried out when the realization dawned on her, but her question fell on deaf ears as Lisa had already lost consciousness by the time Yukina had said anything._

* * *

"Lisa remained unconscious for at least four hours after that and she still has bad memories of the time of the investigation," Yukina finished her story while avoiding Moca's gaze to the best of her ability, knowing what would happen if she were to look at the younger girl. Taking a little break to allow Moca to process what was just told, Yukina decided to take a chance and break the silence a few moments later, "Do you now understand what Lisa has gone through for you in trying to uncover the truth about what happened three years ago?"

The only response that Yukina would get was a shaky nod as Moca was still too shocked at the truth to give a real response. Yukina allowed the younger girl to process it all, giving her the time and space to do so in silence while returning the more personal binder to its rightful place.

"Say, Minato-san…" Moca finally said after an extended period of silence, her eyes never leaving the area on the ground that they were focusing on as the words left her mouth. Her back was hunched over and she was digging into her knees with her fingernails, but the pain did not seem to reach her. Instead, Moca continued when she heard an affirmative noise from Yukina, "How long has Lisa-san been acting differently?"

"What do you mean, Aoba-san?" Yukina asked in a blank voice, almost as if she was caught off guard by the question and did not know how to properly respond. Looking at Moca, she knew that she had heard the question correctly so tried again, "I am afraid I do not quite understand what you are talking about."

"When Minato-san found Lisa-san at her place, unconscious… how long has Lisa-san been acting weirdly since then?" Moca asked as she slowly stood up and looked down at Yukina in ways more than one. With a glare that could have rivaled the one her late friend was infamous for, Moca added, "Or how about you tell me the truth, Minato-san? We both know that it is about time for you to drop the façade anyway."

"What are you talking about, Aoba-san?" Yukina asked as she eyed Moca, but even Yukina could not hide the undertone of fear in her voice. Yukina maintained eye contact with Moca but would soon be distracted when a different sound was heard not far from where Moca was, "What is going on?"

Someone else had entered the room, and this person was standing tall by Moca's side as she glared daggers at Yukina. And the look that this newcomer was giving Yukina was enough for the shortest person in the room to pale a little.

"You know better than anyone what is going on here, Yukina," Lisa said as she placed a warm and firm hand on Moca's shoulder, never letting Yukina leave her gaze. Without breaking eye contact, Lisa added, "Why don't you just tell us the truth?"

"All right all right, you got me," Yukina relented with a smile, raising both of her hands in the air as a sign of defeat. After a few seconds, and directing the question more towards Moca, Yukina asked with genuine curiosity, "Before I tell you what you want to know, please answer me this: how did you find out so quickly?"

"Lisa-san told me what she had really been doing and what she managed to find over the last three years before we arrived here," Moca said after Lisa had given her the sign that she was free to talk. Taking a step forward and, subsequently, breaking away from Lisa's hold on her, Moca continued, "And that is why I knew. The photographs in the second binder that Lisa-san gave me? They were empty, they had nothing on them. The argument that Lisa-san and I had? It was made-up and set up from the beginning. All so we could get the truth out of you, Minato Yukina!"

A short period of silence followed as Yukina began to realize what kind of a mistake she had just made. Finally, after what could have lasted hours, Yukina decided to admit defeat and give Moca what she had come here for, to begin with.

"Very well done, Aoba-san… I must say that I am impressed…" Yukina said as she clapped slowly, seemingly unusually calm as the words left her mouth. With a dark, almost sinister-looking smile, Yukina began talking, "Let me begin by saying what could be the most important part of this: that inferno that burned down the entire area? It was not an accident."

"Not an accident?!" Moca echoed, repeating Yukina's words before she even realized what she was doing. Receiving a firm reminder from Lisa about the situation that they were in, Moca shook her head before facing Yukina again, "What do you mean 'not an accident'?"

"I meant exactly what I said I just said: that the accident was not an accident," Yukina said, making sure that every word was enunciated clearly to avoid any further misunderstanding, "Somebody actively caused the fire to start with the full knowledge that it would cause what it did."

"Why…?" Moca breathed out as her hands slowly balled themselves into fists. Taking a deep breath to try and help her in ignoring the stinging pain that she felt in her palms, Moca continued her question, "Why would anyone do anything like that while knowing what it could result into?"

"I am afraid that I do not know the answer to that, Aoba-san. All I know is who is responsible for the catastrophe and that it was not an accident," Yukina said without looking either Moca or Lisa in the eyes. Instead, Yukina was digging through her pockets before pulling a small envelope out and offering it to Moca, "I know that it will not help my cause, but for what it is worth… I did not want what happened to have happened. If I had known earlier I would have tried to do something to try and stop it sooner. If I had the voice to be heard that day I would have acted sooner. But because I was weak back then, I am here offering you this now."

"I hate to be the one saying this, Yukina…" Lisa began as she allowed herself to trail off for a bit, eyeing the envelope in Yukina's hand with a careful eye, "But on what basis do you think we can believe what you have told us? For all we know, you are just saying all of this to cover your own tracks!"

"Whether you believe me or not is your choice, of course," Yukina said in a surprisingly calm voice as she tried to push the envelope into Moca's hand, "But you two wanted an explanation and I am giving it to you now. You are free to do what you want to do with this knowledge."

"I believe Minato-san," Moca said without any hint of hesitation, shocking not only Lisa but Yukina as well. When she noticed the weird look she was getting from Lisa, Moca shrugged, "Minato-san cared a lot about Ran as well, even if she doesn't want to admit it, so there would be no chance that she would have been behind this. Minato-san wants the culprit to be punished as well, doesn't she?"

"I do, which is why I am counting on you, Aoba-san," Yukina said as she took a few steps closer and placed the envelope in Moca's hand. Taking a step back so there was more space between her and the other two once again, Yukina added, "I am really sorry for what happened. I was weak and I could not do anything, and because of my mistake… Mitake-san…"

"We understand, Yukina," Lisa reassured her friend with a reassuring hand on her shoulder. Smiling when she saw the look on Yukina's face, Lisa nodded in Moca's direction, "If Moca believes and trust you, I will, too. Besides, at the end of the day… I really can't stay mad at you, can I?"

"Lisa…"

"This is...!" Moca gasped out when she had opened the envelope and saw what was inside. The envelope contained a single photograph of a person and a name written below it, and it was this name that caused Moca to look up at Yukina, "Minato-san, is this—?"

"The very same person who caused what happened three years? Yes, she is," Yukina interjected, finishing and answering Moca's question before Moca even had the opportunity to successfully ask it herself. Walking over to Moca, Yukina pointed at the person in the photograph, "Do you know who this is, Aoba-san?"

"I do, and I should have known it was her…" Moca muttered softly to herself as her grip startled to rustle the object in her hands a bit. Realizing this, Moca took a deep breath before she looked up at both people in front of her, "Lisa-san, Minato-san, thank you for this. I feel like I have gotten closer to the truth and it feels lighter now."

"That's good to hear," Lisa smiled as she pulled Moca in a quick but tight embrace, one that was gratefully returned by Moca. After a few seconds had passed, Lisa broke away and added, "If there is anything else you need, please don't hesitate to tell me, okay Moca? You know you can always come to me."

"I do, thank you, Lisa-san, and sorry about earlier," Moca said with an apologetic smile, but Lisa waved off Moca's words of worries as if they weren't even there. Moca then nodded in acceptance and relief before she turned to face Yukina and a short period of silence followed. A silence that was finally broken when Moca offered her hand to Yukina, "I believe you that you didn't want it to have happened, and thank you for telling all of this to me. Can I count on you to tell me if you find anything else, Minato-san?"

"Of course, it is the least that I can do to make up for not doing anything to save Mitake-san," Yukina nodded before slowly and reluctantly accepting Moca's hand. After the two of them let each other go, Yukina took a moment to ponder on something before revealing what was on her mind, "Please make sure that that person gets what she deserves, Aoba-san."

Moca, who had been in the process of gathering her belongings in preparation to head home, looked up when Yukina directed her final words towards her. While this had caught Moca by surprise, she smiled soon after.

"Of course!"

* * *

About half an hour had passed since then and Moca was making her way back to her own place, knowing that she should get back before it started to get dark outside. Shuddering at the possibility of that happening, Moca was distracted enough where she almost missed the vibration in her pocket.

Moving to the side so she would not impede other pedestrians, Moca picked out her phone and read the message that had just arrived. Her original surprised face when she saw who had sent her the message quickly turned into a smile as her eyes scanned the illuminated screen. When Moca had finally finished, she turned her head in a seemingly random and allowed a single thought to fill her mind.

'This changes everything…'

* * *

 **And that wraps up today's chapter! I hope that you all enjoyed it, please leave a review telling me what you thought and what you think will happen next, potentially, and until next month's update! Take care!**


	10. Going For Broke

**And here we are once again with the next chapter of Scarlet Sunlight, thank you all for your patience and thank you, Rei, Aki, and Rider for being such amazing reviewers (and for being the only ones to review the previous chapter, I appreciate it a lot).**

 **For this particular chapter, there is going to be a little bit of a twist… and I will let you faithful reviewers try and find out what that little twist is going to be~**

 **A special thank you goes to my beta who did an amazing job as always.**

 **Disclaimer's the same in that I do not own this franchise**

* * *

 _Moca gulped as she slowly felt her resolve weaken and start to lean more towards one of the two options. Taking a deep breath to help calm herself down and wiping her hands on her pants to dry them from the sweat, tears, and blood, Moca allowed one final thought to pass through her mind before she made her choice._

 _'If she is here then that can only mean one thing…' Moca thought to herself silently as she looked at the hooded woman in front of her, watching her every move carefully to make sure that she would not be surprised by anything. Much to Moca's surprise, nothing extraordinary happened, and the two of them soon found themselves in the shadows cast by a fallen truck._

 _"Why did we stop here?" Moca asked as soon as she noticed that they wouldn't be leaving the place any time soon. When she did not get an answer right away, Moca nodded silently in understanding of the situation, "There's something going on, isn't there?"_

 _"Yes, there is…" the other person said without turning to face Moca. After some time had passed without either of them making a move, Lisa let out a sigh before lowering her hood and looked at Moca, "I need to ask you a big favor, Moca."_

 _"I mean, Moca-chan has asked you the request of a lifetime a few years ago… I don't really have much room to say 'no', now do I?" Moca shrugged with a playful smile. Turning serious as soon as she finished her sentence, Moca added, "So what do you need me to do, Lisa-san?"_

 _"I need you to push Yukina to the point where she will reveal everything herself," Lisa said calmly, never once breaking eye contact as the words left her mouth. Moca, who understood the heaviness of the situation, motioned for Lisa to elaborate, "I am pretty sure that Yukina knows something about what happened to Ran three years ago, but I need your help to get the truth out of her."_

 _"Why would you need Moca-chan for you? Isn't Lisa-san closer to Minato-san than Moca-chan is?" Moca asked as she looked at her senior with wide eyes; if there is one thing that she had expected to hear Lisa say, that was not it. Moca was about to say something else when Lisa had already opened her mouth again._

 _"It's because I am closer to Yukina that it cannot be me. She trusts me, but it is for that reason that she will have her guard up when I am around because I think she is on to me," Lisa explained to a still wary Moca. When Lisa saw this, she took a moment to think of the right words to say before she turned back to Moca, "As you asked me three years ago, I looked into what happened on that day… and everything seems to lead to Yukina. But because Yukina knows that I have been looking for something, she has been very careful not to accidentally let something slip by that would give her away."_

 _"I see… and that is why you need me?" Moca asked as she started to understand Lisa's plight to which the brunette nodded in confirmation without a second thought. After giving the thought some time to process, Moca grinned, "Interesting… you got Moca-chan convinced, Lisa-san~ so, what does Moca-chan have to do?"_

* * *

"I'm home~," Moca called out before she could help herself as soon as she closed her apartment's door behind her. Not paying too much attention at how the lights in the hallway were still on, Moca took off her shoes with a yawn before shuffling in the direction of the living room.

After everything that happened that day, Moca felt like the only thing that she wanted to do was plop down on her bed and let sleep consume her. Unfortunately for her, this would not be possible as another person chose that moment to make her presence known.

"AAAAAAH! What are you—?!"

"Welcome home, Moca-chan," Tsugumi said calmly as she looked up from her spot on the couch with a smile, either not hearing Moca's scream or choosing to ignore it altogether. Tsugumi casually placed the book that she was reading to the side before she turned back to Moca, "Sorry for entering unannounced, but there is something I wanted to talk about for a while."

"Sheesh, Tsugu, you almost gave poor Moca-chan a heart attack," Moca panted heavily while trying to support her weight on the nearby table. Breathing heavily as if just having run a marathon, Moca took a moment to calm her racing heart before giving her friend an appropriate response, "What do you need, Tsugu?"

"Nothing, really… I just wanted to talk with you. We're friends, right?" Tsugumi asked the last bit in a rather unsure voice even by Tsugumi's standards. That, coupled by her unusual fidgeting and lack of eye contact, caused alarm bells to ring in Moca's head; Moca knew that there was only one appropriate reaction. As soon as Moca nodded, Tsugumi smiled a wry smile, "Thank you, Moca-chan. It's about Ran-chan…"

That did it. What little light that had remained in Moca's eyes died out completely, leaving only an empty void behind in its place. Moca's figure slumped down considerably as well, slouching over and losing its presence in the room despite the fact that Tsugumi was the one who was sitting.

But as fast as the shift occurred it disappeared just as quickly, if not quicker. Taking a deep breath, Moca, whose voice was still noticeably trembling when she spoke, turned to face her closest friend before uttering a reply, "What do you want to talk about?"

"It's just… I can be honest with you, right?" Tsugumi was quick to backtrack and ask for confirmation. A small nod and the resounding sound of an eighteen-year-old plopping down on the seat across from Tsugumi later and the brunette picked up where she had left off, "I know that losing Ran-chan has hurt Moca-chan more than me, but it has been more than three years by now… don't you think that it is time to try and move on?"

"That is such a Tsugu thing to say, Moca-chan really should have seen that coming…" Moca trailed off with a playful shrug, avoiding eye contact with Tsugumi as the words left her mouth. Tsugumi, ever the good friend, remained quiet as she watched her friend keep up the façade which she knew could not last for much longer.

Tsugumi's patience was eventually rewarded when Moca turned to look at her after what could very well have been hours, "I'm sorry, Tsugu. I know you want the best for me but I don't think that I am ready yet…"

"But going on like this will continue to hurt you—" Tsugumi cried out in desperation, jumping on her feet before she realized what she was doing as she looked at her friend. Stopping herself from making any other mistake, Tsugumi cleared her throat awkwardly before trying again, "I'm sorry, Moca-chan… I just don't understand why you—"

"Because if I were to move on and put Ran behind me, I will be doing a disservice to her and to the bond that we have," Moca said without looking in Tsugumi's direction; even so, the brunette knew exactly what kind of expression was on Moca's voice. Taking a deep breath, Moca allowed herself to calm down before trying to speak again.

"Ran fought so hard and did not deserve what happened to her, and if I back away from this I won't be keeping her memory alive," Moca breathed out through gritted teeth as her hands balled into fists, stubbornly ignoring the stinging pain that started to spread from her palms. With a defeated sigh, Moca added, "There's no other way…"

As the words left Moca's mouth, she started to remember the time when she last smiled a genuine smile: the times she lost. The last time that she had spent with her closest friend who was well beyond her reach at this point. The final time when she—

"That's where you're wrong, Moca-chan."

Tsugumi's voice broke Moca out of her inner world as she turned to look at Tsugumi with a blank look on her face. As the memories of times long past and the view of her present mixed into a blur for her, Moca managed to softly mutter a single word in response.

"Because, Moca-chan… imagine what it would be like if Moca-chan switched places with Ran-chan and Ran-chan is doing what Moca-chan is doing right now," Tsugumi said in what was a surprisingly calm voice, even for Tsugumi. Realizing that Moca had noticed this, Tsugumi quickly tried to shake the thought of by continuing where she had left off, "And imagine that Moca-chan could know what Ran-chan was doing… how would Moca-chan feel?"

"Like Ran is wasting her life away and should live on?" Moca responded as she tilted her head slightly. Blinking a few times and not receiving a response like she might have expected to receive, Moca added, "Tsugu, why are you bringing this up, anyway?"

"I can only do so much for you, Moca-chan…" Tsugumi trailed off before she dug through her purse to find her phone. Taking a moment to fumble around with it, the brunette nodded to herself before returning back to her still-confused childhood friend, "Moca-chan, please follow me. We're heading out now."

"Now? Isn't it a bit late for us to be heading out?" Moca asked as she looked outside where, sure enough, the sun was already starting to set in the horizon. Trying to suppress a different but still very vivid memory from resurfacing, Moca turned away to instead look at the wall.

"Moca-chan, please… if you're my friend then you will follow me right now," Tsugumi said, trying to keep her voice as steady as possible as she moved to stand in front of Moca. Offering her hand to her friend, Tsugumi added, "So what will it be, Moca-chan?"

Moca took a moment to look at Tsugumi who was towering above her, then to look at the hand that was offered to her, and then back to Tsugumi. Some time passed as the two old friends did nothing more than stare at the other until one of them finally made a move.

"That's unfair, Tsugu…" Moca chuckled as she moved her hand up, not to accept the one that Tsugumi was offering her but to tuck some stray strands of hair behind her ear. Taking a deep breath, Moca finally decided to give her friend a proper response, "All right, you got me… where are we going?"

"It will be faster if I just brought you there and showed you, Moca-chan," Tsugumi smiled, grabbing hold of Moca's surprisingly cold hand and helping her to her feet. Tsugumi then shuffled a bit uneasily on her spot, something she knew did not go unnoticed by Moca, so Tsugumi said what was on her mind, "Even though bringing you there might make you hate me more than you already do."

"What are you talking about, Tsugu? Nobody can possibly hate you!" Moca said quickly in an effort to try and cheer her friend up. These words appeared to resonate with Tsugumi to an extent as the brunette was smiling a soft smile soon after, so Moca took a chance and tried again, "Let's get going then! Lead the way, Tsugu~!"

* * *

"…Are you serious?"

"I told you that you probably didn't want to come here, but I had to bring you here no matter what. Please understand, Moca-chan."

"Tsugu…"

After leaving Moca's place and walking through the streets, with Tsugumi leading the way, the two of them found themselves in a very familiar place: the very same floristry that Moca and Tsugumi ran across on their way to the Silver Harp Café a week ago. As soon as Moca saw what Tsugumi was trying to do she tried to make a beeline for it, but the shorter of the two was surprisingly strong.

Moca now found herself standing in front of the floristry with a Tsugumi holding on to her tightly to prevent her from running away again. And Moca hated the unsightly sight of the flowers. She hated how the flora all had different shades, from blue to red to green to purple, this floristry seemed to have it all. But what Moca hated more than anything was the fact that she could identify each and every one of those flowers without even looking at their labels.

"Why did we come here to begin with?" Moca grumbled but did not try to struggle out of Tsugumi's grip on her. Instead, Moca allowed herself to be dragged inside the floristry by who she once called her best friend; even if Moca did try her hardest to show her disdain towards the place she was in.

"Because, Moca-chan, you need to learn to get over it and this is the best way to do that," Tsugumi tried to explain using a tone that a sleep-deprived adult would use to try and explain why one plus one would equate to two to a kindergartner. Taking a deep breath so she was certain that she would not end up saying something she would regret later, Tsugumi turned to Moca and said, "Do you think I can leave you here alone for a few minutes as I go and ask a worker here a question?"

"I dunno, depends on whether or not you call 'having a mental breakdown because her supposed best friend brought her to the worst place imaginable' as 'being able to be left behind here'," Moca said with a deadpan but shook her head with hints of a smile, "Go ahead, I'll live."

"All right… if you need me then just call out to me," Tsugumi said, making it clear that she wouldn't leave her friend's side before getting confirmation. When Moca finally nodded in confirmation, albeit somewhat hesitantly so, Tsugumi smiled and left Moca's side in search of a worker at the shop.

This left Moca alone in the floristry, at least for the time being as Tsugumi was off doing whatever she had been planning to do. To keep herself occupied, and in a desperate attempt to try and maintain her composure, Moca decided to stroll around a bit through the aisles until she suddenly stopped.

'Why did I—?' Moca thought to herself in a panic, looking around her frantically and with a cold sweat running down her back. As her bones froze up and she could feel the familiar feeling of terror seep through her skin, Moca's body finally started to cooperate again.

That moment had to come when a woman in her thirties was right behind Moca.

"I am so sorry!" Moca apologized profusely, looking over the fallen woman to make sure that there were no signs of injury. Much to Moca's relief, there didn't seem like there was, and the woman allowed herself to be pulled back to her feet by the eighteen-year-old.

"I'm all right, please don't worry about that," the woman said, trying to subtly wave off Moca's doubts as she focused on dusting herself off. As she did this, Moca couldn't help herself from staring at the woman, her dark salmon-colored hair reached well beyond her shoulders and was Moca's point of interest for the majority of the time.

"Mama!"

A high-pitched cry brought both Moca and the older woman out of what they were doing, and as the two of them turned in the direction of the voice they saw a small girl run towards them. Looking identical to the older woman, the young girl could not have been much older than five or six.

"Mama! Mama! Haru found another pretty flower!" the girl blurted out as soon as she reached her mother, grabbing on to her hand and doing her best to pull her away. She wasn't very strong, however, and only managed to elicit a sympathetic smile from her mother as Moca watched this interaction silently from the sidelines.

"What is it, Haru?" Haru's mother asked as she bent through her knees so she could look at Haru one eye-level. As soon as she knew that she had her daughter's attention, she added, "Why don't you show mama what the pretty flower looks like?"

Unfortunately for her, it would seem that something else had caught Haru's attention. Letting go of her mother's hand, Haru ran around both her mother and Moca to stand in front of a set of potted flowers several shelves further. The plant that Haru was looking at was that of a set of plants that seemed like they were trying to climb to the shelf above them.

"Look out!" Moca called out before she could stop herself from doing so. Although somewhat embarrassed, her voice did succeed in stopping Haru from going any closer as she turned to look at Moca with a curious look on her face. Moca knew that she couldn't keep the little one waiting patiently for much longer, so she raked her brain to find the right words to say what she wanted to say, "That plant… it's called a Hirugao and it is set aside from the other plants for a reason."

"It's poisonous, isn't it?" Haru's mother asked in a surprisingly calm voice, to which Moca nodded in confirmation. When she saw this, Haru's mother walked up to Haru and picked Haru up in her arms before turning back to Moca, "Thank you."

"I mean, there aren't that many cases of plants being fatal to us, but we wouldn't want to add to that small number," Moca said with a slight shrug, trying in vain to try and lighten the mood. Understanding quickly that this was not working, Moca shifted gears and addressed Haru this time, "The Hirugao is still a pretty flower, isn't it?"

"Mhm! Haru likes pretty flowers a lot!" Haru said with a bright smile before she looked at the plant longingly, "But why do people put that pretty flower for sale if it is so bad? Haru does not understand…"

"Because that plant represents human bonds. Umm…" Moca trailed off when she realized that Haru was not following her. Taking a moment to try and think of the right way to say what she was about to say, "It's like… everybody that Haru knows is someone who has a bond with Haru. And that plant is a symbol of those bonds."

"Everyone?" Haru repeated with wide eyes to which Moca nodded with a smile, happy that Haru understood her. Haru's eyes lit up almost immediately after as she turned back to look at the plant she had been trying to get close to earlier, "That is amazing! Wow!"

"Other people might also just want it because they think it looks nice," Moca continued her explanation when she saw how invested little Haru was in this, "Or because they don't understand how bad the plant is to other—"

"And how about that one? What does that one mean?" Haru interrupted Moca's sentence by jabbing a finger to a plant behind Moca. When Moca turned around, slightly grumpy at being interrupted but trying to hide it to humor the young girl, she saw that Haru had been pointing at white-colored flowers. Flowers that Moca recognized only all too well.

"Those are… Iceland poppies…" Moca said through gritted teeth as a dark veil started to surround her. Before the two other people near Moca could bring this up, however, this negative energy radiating from Moca disappeared and she smiled a shaky smile as she continued, "These flowers symbolize comfort and consolidation when you give them to someone. Usually, they are given when something bad happened to you."

A short period of silence followed which was only broken when Haru's mother lowered Haru back to the ground and said in a soft voice, "Haru, can you go and see if papa needs any help?"

"Okay, mama!" Haru saluted sloppily but energetically and was about to run off when she remembered something. Tugging at Moca's pants, Haru grinned as soon as Moca turned to look at her, "When Haru grows big, Haru wants to be just like you!"

And with that, Haru turned around and hurried off in her quest to find her father. This left her mother behind with a Moca who watched the little girl run off while not knowing how to react to the situation she found herself in.

Haru's mother walked up to Moca's side the moment that Haru was no longer within hearing distance and said, "Thank you for helping Haru, it really means a lot to her. And also, I wanted to say that I am sorry for your loss."

"How did you—?!" Moca exclaimed in shock, jerking around to face the older woman with wide eyes. Much to Moca's surprise, she saw that her companion was laughing, which prompted Moca to ask the first question that popped up in her head, "What is so funny?"

"I am sorry, but it really was not very difficult to determine that when I saw how you looked at the poppies," Haru's mother said with a gentle smile as she looked at the aforementioned flowers herself, silently urging Moca to do the same. After some time had passed where the two of them could stare at the flowers in question, each of them for their own reasons, Haru's mother spoke again, "It really is a beautiful thing…"

Moca remained silent, however, as she had to use all her willpower not to break down again upon being reminded of her friend. But that was when she started to realize something: it didn't hurt as much as it usually did. As a matter of fact, it felt completely different than it usually felt like.

The familiar feeling of someone ripping her heart out of her chest and squeezing the life out of it was still there, but it felt gentler somehow. As if the feeling was no longer there to suffocate her, but to edge her forward.

'So this is what Tsugu…' Moca thought to herself as she placed one hand against her chest and allowed this revelation to wash over her. With a deep, slow breath, Moca made up her mind and picked up one of the poppies.

"You know… I should probably thank you for explaining all that stuff to Haru," Haru's mother said, shaking Moca back to reality as she slowly turned to face her. When Moca did, she saw, much to Moca's shock, that the older woman was digging around in her purse to find her wallet and hand Moca some money, "There, that should be more than enough to get you those flowers. And whatever is left you can get something else for yourself, okay?"

"But—," Moca began, looking at the offered money and trying to think of a way to politely turn down the money. She never had the chance, however, as Haru's mother effectively pushed the money into Moca's hand with a smile.

"Look at it as a little thank-you for spending some time with my little Haru. Besides…" Haru's mother trailed off with a sly smirk as she looked at Moca with a knowing glint in her eyes, "You look like you need to let go of the past and start growing towards the future. I hope everything will work your well, and if you would excuse me… I need to make sure that Haru did not get lost."

Without giving Moca the time to mutter a response, Haru's mother turned around and walked off in the direction that her daughter had run off to. Moca was now entirely alone with the flower in one hand, some money in the other, and all the thoughts swirling around in her mind.

Resigning herself to the fact that she was about to do what she feared she would one day be doing, Moca was about to head to the cashier to pay for the flower when she heard her name being called. Turning around to see who had called her, Moca saw that Tsugumi was running towards Moca with a slightly reddened face. The brunette almost knocked down three different pots of plants due to her wild movements in an effort to get to Moca faster.

"Sorry to… keep you waiting… Moca-chan…" Tsugumi panted, doubling over in an effort to try and calm down her breathing. The brunette needed a few moments to do just that, but once she did she tried to look at her friend as fast as she could. That was when Tsugumi noticed the flower in Moca's hand and she couldn't help but smile, "I see that coming here was not a waste of time, but it is a shame that this means that what I prepared won't be used anymore. Oh well, what matters is that this place ended up helping you after all."

"Moca-chan would show you what Moca-chan felt when Moca-chan knew that Tsugu dragged little old Moca-chan here of all places, but you lucked out," Moca said as she glanced at the money in her hand and thought of the nice woman she met only moments ago… as well as another familiar face popping up in her mind. Moca quickly shook her head to get rid of the memories and turned to her friend, "I'll go and buy this and then we can head back."

"Actually, about that… remember when I said that I would be talking with a worker here?" Tsugumi asked slowly, scratching her cheek with her index finger and looking away from the taller of the two as the words left her mouth. Gulping softly, Tsugumi tried to put on a bright expression before she continued, "I asked for a favor and she said she could help me out, but she also asked for us both to come to her for it. It's important that Moca-chan comes, too, so let's go. It shouldn't take too long… I hope."

"What could possibly be so important?" Moca asked, but she never would get an answer from her friend. Tsugumi had already run ahead of her and leaving Moca behind in the aisle. Moca wanted to follow suit after her friend when she felt dizziness overtake her. Her mind emptied itself of all thoughts and before Moca knew herself what was happening she had already fallen on the ground, her consciousness lost before her body touched the soil.

* * *

"… M… ca… Mo… Moca… -chan…!"

"Tsu…gu…?" Moca groaned softly as she held her forehead to try and stifle the throbbing headache that she was feeling. Ignoring the cry of relief that originated from her childhood friend, Moca pushed herself up into a seated position in what she then realized was a mattress on the floor in a seemingly empty room that she did not recognize, "Where… am I? What happened?"

"We're still in the floristry, the back of it to be precise. And it's only been a few minutes since you lost consciousness there…" Tsugumi tried to explain while fighting the mental battle of whether to hug her friend or push her back down as she still needed her rest. Tsugumi eventually ended up deciding on a little bit of both as she pushed Moca back on her back in an embrace, "I'm sorry… I shouldn't have run off ahead like that…"

"That's all right, don't worry about it, Tsugu…" Moca said breathlessly, struggling slightly under the extra weight of Tsugumi and not trying to hide her desire of wanting Tsugumi off of her. Tsugumi took the hint and quickly took a step or two back, much to Moca's relief, "But why are we still here? Couldn't we have, like… called Tomato-chin for a ride or something?"

"It's… not as simple as that, Moca-chan…" Tsugumi said sheepishly as she shuffled around a bit, clearly nervous for some reason. When Moca brought that up worriedly, Tsugumi simply laughed Moca's concerns off, "You see… remember that worker I was telling you about…?"

"I have told the managers that selling such plants are dangerous for the customers, so I will apologize in their name for you losing consciousness like that. That said, I am surprised you did not know not to get close to them," another voice said from a different part of the room. A familiar voice that made Moca's blood freeze upon hearing it.

"Moca-chan… Please allow me to introduce the person who I have been in contact with for a while now…"

Moca did not need the introduction that Tsugumi was giving to know who the third person in the room was. It had been more than three years since she last heard that voice, but even so, Moca would recognize that voice from anywhere. The very same voice that belonged to the person who walked into view.

The owner of the voice was a young woman of Moca's age wearing a black-colored hoodie and jeans. Her jet-black hair had grown to reach all the way down to the middle of her back, with the bangs in the front falling down to just below her eyes. Even with the hair trying to hide them, however, those eyes would not be forgotten by someone like Moca. The third girl in the room looked up at Moca, and the instant that the two locked eyes they both knew that Moca had recognized her without any doubt.

Mitake Ran then turned to look to the side as she muttered the next few words in Moca's direction.

"It's… been a while… hasn't it, Moca?"

* * *

 **And there we have it! The end of another chapter is upon us and that means one thing: thank you for reading this story and keeping up with the slower update schedule. I hope that you enjoyed today's chapter, please leave a review telling me what you thought and until next time! Take care!**


	11. Needing Less and Wanting More

**Well… I'm definitely not going to regret what this chapter's content will be after what happened last time… nuh-uh, definitely not. On a more serious note: I want to take this opportunity to thank everybody for their support of this story; considering how small of a fandom this fandom is, I still believe that this story is doing amazingly well based on all the support it is getting. Thank you very much, once again!**

 **I would also like to apologize for the long break that happened; real life was a mess of things and, to be perfectly honest with you all, I would have preferred continuing to write myself as well. Thank you for waiting patiently for me to return to this story.**

 **And a special thank you goes to the consistent reviewers of this story: Rei, Aki, and Rider! As well as the returning reviewer: Nyaanyaarin! Thank you all for supporting this story as much as you have, and I hope you will continue to support it until the very end! We have officially passed the halfway mark!**

 **Another thank you goes to the person who helped make this chapter (and this story as a whole) a reality: my beta, LightZephyr!**

 **Disclaimer's the same as always: I do not own BanG Dream! Girls Band Party**

* * *

It was a beautiful and peaceful morning, the sun was starting to rise from beyond the horizon and birds of all sorts and sizes were making their presence known. It was the start of a bright new day, but a certain someone was still sleeping through the majestic beauty of the dawn.

With her face dug deep into the mattress she was lying on and the pillow covering her head, Uehara Himari tried her best to try and drown out the sounds that were plaguing her. She had stayed up late to watch a movie with Tomoe the previous night and was now regretting her decision; unlike Tomoe, Himari had to get up early in the morning. Himari wanted nothing more than to get some more rest, but cruel fate decided to choose that moment to let a small blur zoom into Himari's room.

"Himari-nee! Himari-nee!"

Despite the excited cries of the mini human, Himari did not seem like she was ready to part ways from the warm embrace of her blankets. Burying her face in the soft covers, Himari thought that she was finally left alone when she did not hear the little devil's voice for a few seconds.

"Hi…ma…ri…NEE!"

In a flash, the seven-year-old who was standing by Himari's bedside had grabbed two handfuls' worth of blanket and, in a display of a surprising amount of strength for her little body, yanked both it and the sleeping girl off the bed. The smooth motion was accompanied by cheerful laughter from the younger girl, a heavy thud and a yelp that was both of surprise and pain.

"M-Mio-chan, why…?" Himari managed to mutter as she rubbed the parts of her body that hurt the most. After recollecting what little dignity she had left, Himari tilted her head up to look at the little girl towering above her, "Wha-What time is it, Mio-chan?"

"It is seven-thirty, Himari-nee!" Mio piped up as she grasped for Himari's hand and started to literally drag the older girl out of the room. Her next words were accompanied by the familiar rumblings of her seemingly-bottomless stomach, "Cruz-niisan and I are hungry, Himari-nee!"

Himari knew better than to struggle against Mio's grip and allowed herself to be dragged to the little kitchenette; despite the girl only being seven years old, she was the only person Himari knew who managed to defeat Tomoe in an arm wrestling match. Despite this resurfaced memory, Himari still tried to hide the smile in the form of a frown when Mio finally let go of her.

"Mio-chan, you know that it is not very nice to drag people away when they don't want to be, right?" Himari lightly scolded the young girl as she began her search for some bread. When Mio walked back to her to get a few plates, Himari added in a much softer tone, "How would you feel if someone were to drag you away without your permission?"

"I'm sorry, Himari-nee…" Mio muttered softly, lowering her head and fumbling with the hem of her shirt. The young girl also used the watery-eyes look that had kept her out of trouble in the past. She hoped that this time would be no different, and soon enough…

"Awww, Mio-chan…" Himari squealed, lunging at Mio and wrapping her arms around Mio tightly. Mio gasped in surprise at the sudden action; despite having expected something like it to happen, the force of Himari's glomp was greater than she could have anticipated, "Himari-nee will go and finish everybody's breakfast. Can I count on Mio-chan to go and get everybody here while Himari-nee does this?"

"Okay, Himari-nee!"

Mio ran off to the hallway as soon as Himari let go of the tiny human with a spring in her step, putting a small smile on Himari's face in the process. As soon as Mio had disappeared, Himari turned back to the assortment of ingredients laid before her.

"All right, Uehara-san! Let's get to work!" Himari cheered, doing a little fist pump as the words resonated in the otherwise quiet and peaceful room. Himari was about to roll up her sleeves and start moving the vegetables on to the cutting board when another person entered the room and made her presence.

A still sleepy-looking Tomoe had walked inside, her fingers of one hand entangling themselves in the messy bedhead she still had while the other hand was used to try and stifle a yawn. The redhead was wearing a fluffy, pink-colored sweater over her pajamas and was clearly still in the process of waking up herself.

"Mo-o-ooooooooooorning, Himari," Tomoe tried, and failed, to stifle the largest yawn she had made since moving in with Himari. Seeing what the house owner was doing, Tomoe slapped her face a couple of times before rushing over to Himari's side, "How can I help?"

"Don't take this personally, Tomoe, but I can handle it," Himari smiled woefully before continuing to cut the onions into the thin slices she wanted them to be in. After having completely cut the onion she was working on, Himari wiped the corners of her eyes with one hand and used the knife-wielding hand to point at the table, "How about you start setting the table if you're already here anyway? Mio-chan is already getting Cruz-kun and Setsuna-chan, so don't worry about the kids."

"You know, Himari…" Tomoe trailed off as she crouched down to get to the cupboard where the plates were as Himari threw all the onions in the pan on the stove. Himari turned in time to see Tomoe close the cupboard with the back of her heel, "The way you said that it makes it seem like we are a married couple and you just told our youngest daughter to wake her brother and sister up."

"Eh, Ah, I… I didn't mean it like that!" Himari screamed that last bit out a little louder than she had wanted to; even Himari herself was shocked at how hard her voice reverberated through the room and continued ringing in her ears. Then, a lot softer, she repeated, "I didn't mean it like that…"

"I know you didn't, Himari," Tomoe laughed, patting the shorter girl on the head before turning towards the table and setting down the plates she had been carrying. Without taking her eyes from the table, Tomoe continued, "It's weird, though… they have only been here for like a week or two and yet it feels like we have been a real and close-knit family for years…"

"I know how you feel…" Himari said as she absent-mindedly stirred the meat around in the pan, observant enough to prevent it from burning but lost in her own set of thoughts all the same. With her eyes starting to burn again, Himari wiped them with the sleeve of her pajama, "It will be hard saying goodbye to them when Eve-chan comes to pick them up again."

"Himari-nee…"

Both Himari and Tomoe turned to look in the direction of the source before a blue blur rushed towards Himari and tackled her to the ground. This blue blur was soon followed by a smaller, pinker blur, accompanied by a muffled yelp from Himari on the floor.

"We love you two too, Himari-nee! Tomoe-nee!"

"We don't wanna gooo!"

Setsuna and Mio were lying on top of Himari as they cried their eyes out, dampening Himari's shirt in the process. The weight of both girls on her and the sound of their cries was enough to break what was left of Himari's composure as well.

"Mio-chan! Setsuna-chan!"

As the three of them had their little moment together, a third figure shuffled their way inside the room, his eyes never leaving the three girls on the ground. He seemed to be conflicted by a certain thought, but he couldn't come to a decision.

"Something on your mind?" Tomoe asked as she stood beside the young boy and placed a calming, reassuring hand on his shoulder. When Tomoe saw that she had his full attention, she bent through her knees to look him in his eyes before adding, "You can tell me, big guy."

Cruz did not respond right away, maybe partly due to his nine-year-old brain not being able to think of the right words to say. Scratching his cheek and then crossing his arms, he frowned at the sight in front of him, "I don't get them."

"Because they are all over each other trying to say their goodbyes?" Tomoe guessed, correctly, in a calm and understanding voice as she saw Cruz's expression change, albeit only minimally so. With a smile, Tomoe took a few seconds to think over her options on what to say next, "Does that mean that you did not enjoy these last two weeks here or that you will not miss any of us at all?"

"W-What?!" Cruz cried out, eyes wide as he stared at a Tomoe whose expression he could not read. This is why he did not know how to act in front of Tomoe; unlike Himari, where how she feels and thinks is as clear as day, it is a little harder to guess those sorts of things with Tomoe.

And Cruz hated the fact that he could not read the redhead.

"You know that isn't true…" Cruz mumbled with a slight pout and fumbling around with the hem of his pajama shirt. When he did not hear Tomoe respond to this, he turned to look at her only to get squished in the tight embrace that followed, "Ack! T-T-Tomoe! Ca-Can't breathe!"

"It will help both yourself and others to be a bit more honest with your feelings, Cruz," Tomoe whispered softly in Cruz's ear, loosening up her embrace just enough so he could breathe again. Fighting hard to stifle the laugh that threatened to escape her lips when she heard her prisoner gasp for air, Tomoe continued where she left off, "So how about you tell us how you really feel, big boy?"

It could have been the way in which Tomoe was holding him. It could have been the way in which Tomoe had voiced those exact words. It could also have been the cacophony of tearful wails behind him.

But it was at that moment that Cruz's broke down as well.

"I-I-I… don't want to go… either!" Cruz cried, not even trying to hold back how he was feeling now that the dam had broken down. Interpreting Tomoe's gentle touch as an invitation to crawl closer against her, Cruz did not move much after that with the exception of the occasional sniffle. He did not even seem to mind when Tomoe had picked him up and carried him to the table where he was put on one of the unoccupied chairs.

After making sure that Cruz had calmed down enough for her to leave him alone, Tomoe walked over to where Himari was still on the ground and helped her get back on her feet. Offering a small yet meaningful nod in Himari's direction, Tomoe picked up Setsuna and carried her to the table as well where she lowered the teen into the chair next to Cruz. Not long after, Mio was placed on the chair on Setsuna's other side by Himari.

"We feel exactly like you three do, but unfortunately we all agreed that you would only be staying with us until today and that Eve will be picking you up today," Tomoe began solemnly before subtly dodging the jab that was aimed at her side. Taking a few steps away from Himari, Tomoe looked at all three of the children who had been staying with her for the past two weeks with a smile, "But that does not mean that we cannot spend time together again after today."

This seemed to catch the three children's attention as all three looked up in perfect synchrony at Tomoe and Himari. Setsuna was the first to regain her ability to speak.

"Does that mean that—"

"You can all come to visit us more often? Of course!" Himari grinned, walking over to adjust the utensils on the table before turning to look at Tomoe, "Tomoe, I can finish preparing breakfast myself. How about you get that little something for them instead?"

"Sure thing! Just make sure you don't follow my sister's example by burning down the whole building, okay?" Tomoe said before bursting out laughing when she saw the look on Himari's face. Holding her side with one hand and grasping on to the countertop with the other, Tomoe needed a bit before she regained her composure.

"I'm kidding I'm kidding, Himari," Tomoe was still slightly chuckling when she moved over to Himari to place a gentle hand on her shoulder, "I'll be right back then. Take care of the food in the meantime, okay?"

"All right, but hurry back or the food will get cold!" Himari called out to the redhead who was already on the other side of the room at that point. Himari wanted to call out a variety of other things but knew that she would only be wasting her breath; once Tomoe had her attention focused on something, she really could not be made to focus on other things.

'Okay, Himari, focus!' Himari thought to herself, lightly slapping both her cheeks before looking at the ingredients in front of her, 'It's the last meal with the kids here, let's give them something to remember! Now let's see… where was I?'

As Himari focused her attention back on the breakfast that she was making, Tomoe had already reached the other side of the small apartment that she and Himari were sharing. Ever since they started to watch over the children, they had even less privacy than they had before, so trying to hide something from a group of children who were curious by nature proved to be a challenge.

"I should really thank Ako for this one day…" Tomoe mumbled to herself, grabbing the small painted shoebox that was somewhat hidden from plain sight in Tomoe's wardrobe. The box was painted over in the same color as the inside of the wardrobe, making it blend in really well. In addition, it also matched the color of most of Tomoe's clothes, which made it seem like there was just a messy pile of same-colored clothes on a quick glance.

Careful so as to not mess up the clothes even more than she usually does, Tomoe placed the box on the ground before she tried to save her clothes by folding them up neatly again. Once all the clothes were back in the wardrobe in a somewhat orderly pile, Tomoe opened the box to see if they were still there, closed the lid again with a smile and left the room.

If Tomoe had gotten lost on her way to getting what she wanted to get, all she needed to do was follow her nose back to the living-dining hybrid room. The familiar aroma of Himari's famous dish wafted through the hallway, making Tomoe slow down her step to savor this gift to her senses.

"Smells good, Himari!" Tomoe called out the moment she knew that Himari would hear her, heading straight for the table that was now a lot fuller than it was when she had left it. Placing the box on the floor beside one of the table legs and avoiding Setsuna's inquiry on it, Tomoe sat down on one of the two unoccupied chairs, "When can we start eating, Himari?"

"Just a moment!" Himari yelled from the kitchenette, clearly distraught and not knowing what to do. Both Tomoe and Setsuna were already on their feet and about to rush forward to see if they could help, but before either of them could do this they were ushered to sit back down again by Himari, "Come on, you two. We can't eat if you're still standing up, can we?"

"But—"

"Himari-nee—"

"No buts!" Himari called, trying to push for a somewhat angry undertone in her voice despite knowing that she could never truly be angry with any of them. This did not stop her from trying, though, as she followed up soon after, "Both of you, you're setting a bad example for Mio-chan and Cruz-kun!"

Despite both of them understanding that Himari's anger wasn't real, neither of them wanted to find out if they were wrong about this. They both hurriedly sat down again and, alongside Mio and Cruz, waited patiently for Himari to place the food on the table.

"Sooo… before we start eating, there is something that Tomoe and I have to say…" Himari trailed off after placing the still-steaming bowl on the table and sitting down on the only unoccupied chair left. This caught the attention of the children, but Tomoe only gave Himari a knowing smile, "I know that we will all miss these last few days that we have spent together, so Tomoe and I have a little something for all of you."

"A present?!" Mio piped up, the first of the three to fully process what Himari had just said. When Himari nodded in confirmation the youngest in the room could barely contain her excitement, "Oh can we open them now? Can we can we can we?!"

"As soon as you finish your food," Tomoe said in a voice that managed to sound both stern and playful at the same time, answering Mio for Himari's sake. Before Tomoe could say anything else, however, the three children had already taken their fair share of the food and waited patiently to be allowed to start eating.

"T-That was fast…" Himari chuckled softly, a cold droplet of sweat running down the back of her head as she wondered why she had never thought of this trick before. Taking a moment to look at an equally-baffled Tomoe, Himari motioned for them to start eating as she offered Tomoe half of what was left.

The five of them ate in relative silence after that, relishing the warmth and swirl of flavors that assaulted their taste buds like Himari's cooking usually did. The tenderness of the meat and the mixture of spices that Himari used did the job well, but something was still amiss. And all five of them were affected by this.

After a while, one of them decided she could not take it anymore and decided to do something.

"What's wrong, Setsuna?" Tomoe asked, noticing the gloomy look on her face and choosing to address it right away. Despite having an idea what it could be, the redhead pressed on, "Did you bit your tongue? Was the food too hot? Are you feeling sick?"

"No-Nothing like that…" Setsuna mumbled as she placed her utensils on the plate, signifying that she was done eating. When she saw that Cruz and Mio had followed her example, Setsuna looked up at Tomoe, "It's just… Tomoe-nee and Himari-nee have done so much for the three of us, and we… to be honest, we have been nothing but a nuisa—."

"Not once," Tomoe said calmly, interrupting Setsuna and dragging the silence on to let what she was about to say truly sink in, "Not once did either Himari or I think that any of you were a nuisance here. Right, Himari?"

"That's right!" Himari chimed in as she picked up the dirty dishes, motioning to Cruz to stay seated when he made signs that he wanted to get up and help. Seeing that he stayed put obediently put a smile on Himari's face, and it was with this smile that she turned to look at Tomoe, "Tomoe, if you would?"

"Of course, that's why I got them out," Tomoe nodded, leaning down from her seated position to pick the box up and place it on the table so everyone could see it. It did not take long for Tomoe to see that she had the children's attention, so she suppressed a laugh and opened the box, "Normally, it is tradition that you take these home and open the gifts in private. But because I think I can hear Eve already walking up to our door, you may open them now if you want to."

Sure enough, Tomoe had barely finished speaking and they could already hear the knock on the door. Himari, who was closest to the front door, stood up and hurried over to let the visitor in while Tomoe handed a small bundle wrapped in colorful wrapping paper to each of the children. Setsuna, Mio, and Cruz all waited and stared at the bundle in their hands until one of them could not take it anymore and tore the paper off.

"Wow…"

Setsuna held up the necklace up high in the air to look at it more carefully. The light reflected off the shiny surface of the chain, but what caught Setsuna's attention the most was the small little plate that reflected the light in such a way that Setsuna could not see what was depicted on it.

"Tomoe-nee, what's that?" Mio asked, pointing at the little plate as well, having leaned forward to try and get a closer look. Squinting her eyes a bit and tilting her head to the side, Mio thought that she recognized a form, "Is that… a field of sunflowers…?"

"That's just so like you, Tomoe-nee," Setsuna said as a smile was tugging at the corners of her mouth while tracing the outline of the sunflowers with her finger. Barely breaking away from her trance-like state, Setsuna finally turned to look at Mio and Cruz, "And what did you two get?"

"Mio got the same as what you got, Setsuna. And we got Cruz an armband in a similar design," Tomoe said as the two took out their respective gifts and held them up to see. Seeing the look on their faces was all that was needed to get Tomoe to smile brightly as well, "Here, let me help you two."

Without waiting for a response, Tomoe stood up and walked over to Mio. Tomoe gently took the small necklace from Mio's tiny hands and wrapped the chain around the girl's neck, fastening it on the back. When she was done with Mio, Tomoe moved over to help Setsuna's with hers and nodded in satisfaction.

"Himari! Eve!" Tomoe called out to the two people who had just entered the room and, as if on cue, both Himari and Eve moved to stand on either side of the redhead. They were both visibly curious but for completely different reasons, so Tomoe wasted no time in telling them why she had called them, "Look what the kids have to show off now."

"What do they—oh they look so cute!" Eve squealed as she rushed over to Setsuna and gave her a tight hug. Breaking away when she heard the familiar sound of Setsuna suffocating in her arms, Eve focused her attention on the other two only to see that they were holding a similar item.

"While Eve-nee is almost killing Cruz over there..." Setsuna began, trailing off as she watched Cruz struggle to free himself. Hiding a smile from the people in front of her, Setsuna bowed before hugging both Himari and Tomoe at the same time, "Thank you for everything! We'll miss you."

"We'll miss you too, Setsuna-chan," Himari said as she held the girl close to her while Tomoe stroked her head lightly. The older two were quick to let go, however, as they understood what they had to do. It was Himari who ended up reminding Setsuna of this, "Come on, I am sure that Eve-chan is tired and just wants to get you all home. Isn't that right, Eve-chan?"

"That is… not incorrect…" Eve admitted with a sheepish smile as she played with one of her braids. Then, seemingly in an effort to put the focus on somebody else, Eve turned to the three she came to pick up, "Is everybody ready to go? All your bags packed and all?"

"Yup!" Mio piped up cheerfully, clearly proud of the fact that she was ready to go. Before Eve could say anything else, Mio had already grabbed the hands of both Cruz and Setsuna and rushed off.

This left Eve standing there wide-eyed at their behavior, Tomoe who had to excuse herself or burst out laughing in front of the visitor, and Himari who picked up where she had left off by loading the dishwasher. By the time that Himari had finished and the dishwasher was turned on, Eve was only then starting to get over her shock.

"What's wrong, Eve-chan?" Himari asked as soon as she saw the look on Eve's face, sitting down on the chair opposite hers while waiting for a response. When Himari did not get a response at all, she decided to push a little deeper, "Surprised how much those kids changed in these past few weeks?"

"Actually, yes, I am," Eve admitted after a second of contemplation. Turning to look at Himari directly, Eve added, "What did you do to get those three to change so much so fast? I cannot really get them to do anything and their parents have not had any luck at all whatsoever."

"I guess it has something to do with the fact that we are not related to them?" Himari thought out loud, thinking of an answer to Eve's question but drawing a blank aside from what she had just said. When she saw the puzzled look on Eve's face, Himari took another second to think of the right words to say to try and explain what she had said, "It's perhaps because we aren't related to them that they try harder to behave and follow the rules, so if our rules are different from what they are used to they will work harder to try and follow them. Maybe it is to try and impress us?"

"Either that or it is just that we are better parent figures than you are family members of those kids," Tomoe joked, walking back inside with a cup in either of her hands. Before Eve could properly respond to this, Tomoe added quickly, "I'm just kidding, just kidding. Oh, do you want something to drink, by the way?"

"Ah, no thank you, Tomoe-san. I think we should be going soon; we have used up too much of your time already, after all," Eve said quickly with a small smile. Nodding at something behind both Himari and Tomoe, the two residents of the apartment turned to see that Mio, Setsuna, and Cruz were ready to head out, "All right, shall we, everyone?"

The three kids nodded in agreement and then took turns to give Himari and Tomoe one final hug, with Himari and Tomoe reassuring them that they can always meet up again whenever they want to. Now with their goodbyes said, the kids rushed to get their bags and head out to claim the front seat, leaving the three adults behind chuckling softly.

"I know that this is not much, but here is a little something for everything that you have done for us, Himari-san, Tomoe-san," Eve said as she pushed two small wrapped gifts, one into Himari's hands and one into Tomoe's hands. Seeing how the both of them were already about to say something about this, Eve quickly beat them to it, "It is rude to turn down and reject a gift someone went to great lengths to get you, is it not? Besides, if Himari-san and Tomoe-san do not want it it will just be thrown away anyway."

"So please…" Eve finished with a somewhat watery smile that tugged at Himari's and Tomoe's heartstrings, "It is the least that we can do in exchange for everything that you have done for us. For them."

"All right, thank you, Eve," Tomoe finally said, accepting the gift and placing hers on the table. She did this just in time as Eve lunged forward to tackle the redhead in a tight embrace barely a second later. Despite this sudden act of affection, however, Tomoe had trouble keeping her laughter in check, "Come on now, Eve… stay here for a lot longer and you'll end up making the kids wait too long out there."

"I understand I understand," Eve said, her voice filled with the contained laughter as well. Eve let go of Tomoe, smoothened her clothes a bit and embraced Himari for a few seconds, "I will be off then. Now, if you will excuse me…"

And with that Eve took her leave, leaving Himari and Tomoe as the only ones left in the apartment. It did not take long for either of them to realize just how quiet the apartment is with just the two of them, and so Himari ended up unwrapping her gift.

What fell out of the wrapping paper was a decently-sized chocolate bar with the word 'Fazer' on the front. Himari eyed it curiously, weighing it in her hand before turning to Tomoe, "Have you ever heard of this brand before?"

"No, I haven't. Maybe it is from where Eve is from?" Tomoe wondered out loud, unwrapping her own and finding that Eve had given her a similar bar as Himari's. Tomoe looked like she wanted to say something else but then saw that the phone was ringing.

The redhead was faster to reach the phone and was, therefore, the one to answer the call, "Hello, Uehara-Udagawa residence, Udagawa Tomoe speaking. … Ah, Tsugu, how are you? … Oh, I'm sorry to hear that, but I am sure that— … Himari? Yeah, she is right here, just give me a moment."

"It's Tsugu, she wants to speak with you," Tomoe said, her hand covering one end of the phone as she handed it to Himari to try and muffle the sound of their conversation. With a worried frown, Tomoe added, "She sounded really shaken, be careful with what you say to her, okay?"

"Right, of course," Himari said, her voice wavering slightly in the process. Before she took the phone she made sure to slap herself on the cheeks slightly to calm her nerves, "Hey Tsugu, it's me. What's up?"

Tomoe left the room to head to her wardrobe for a change of clothes, fearing that she would affect the conversation between Himari and Tsugumi should she burst out laughing again. When she came back she saw a gloomy Himari sitting at the table with her face buried in her hands.

"What happened?" Tomoe asked, alarm bells already ringing as she rushed over to Himari's side. Fearing for the worst, Tomoe knew that she could not let up, "Himari, what happened?"

"Tsugu is going to tell something to Moca…" Himari mumbled through her fingers, her voice barely audible to Tomoe who was standing beside her. But Himari wasn't finished reciting what had just happened, "She took Moca to a floristry, thinking that that would be the best place to tell her."

"And? What did Moca say?" Tomoe asked, trying to urge Himari on by guiding her train of thoughts. However, much to Tomoe's surprise, Himari shook her head slowly.

"Apparently, before Tsugu could tell Moca… Moca collapsed and lost consciousness…" Himari said and Tomoe could feel her heart drop right then and there; the redhead remembered the first time when she had met Moca after the latter had come face-to-face with a floristry. Himari looked up and saw just how pale Tomoe looked, nodding silently, "I guess that means you know how bad it is?"

"So all we can do now is… wait patiently to find out what happened after Moca lost consciousness?" Tomoe asked in disbelief and defeat. Himari didn't answer Tomoe's question, but in a weird way, this was all the confirmation that the redhead needed.

Unbeknownst to the other, both Tomoe and Himari were thinking of the same thing at that exact moment.

'Tsugu, you can do it!'

* * *

 **And that wraps up today's chapter! Thank you for reading this chapter and the continued support even past the little break. It would mean a lot if you told me what you thought of this chapter in a review, and I will see you all next time (which, due to something else, should be late-March)! Take care, everyone!**

 **Beta Note: Hi, this is the first time I get to write a quick little beta note in a chapter. Since this chapter focused quite heavily on them (and they came from a franchise many may not have heard of) I thought I might as well bring it up: the three non-Bandori characters in this chapter come from a 2003-13 manga/2009 anime called Needless. Do I recommend that franchise? Not… really… was it fun to incorporate as many Bandori-like references in this story where possible? Definitely! The only reason it got my attention is that I found out it had esper-like characters (Raildex similarity) and featured Uehara Himari's seiyuu, Katou Emiri. Emirin did not voice any of the three crossover characters, though.**


	12. The Story

**All right all right, today is an _actual_ chapter and not a "side story" ^^' picking right back up where we left off back in October! Before that, however, I want to thank my reviewers for the consistent support they have been giving me throughout this story's progression (looking at you three, in order of review of the last chapter, Tortaki, Rider, and Rei~), and thank my beta reader for the amazing job as always (Zephy's awesome~)! Seriously, without my beta this chapter probably would have taken another week or three…** **The update schedule is still going to be kinda shaky as I have a lot going on in real life, unfortunately, but I'll try to get new updates out when I can.**

 **I do not own BanG Dream! Girls Band Party**

* * *

 _"I have told the managers that selling such plants are dangerous for the customers, so I will apologize in their name for you losing consciousness like that. That said, I am surprised you did not know not to get close to them," another voice said from a different part of the room. A familiar voice that made Moca's blood freeze upon hearing it._

 _"Moca-chan… Please allow me to introduce the person who I have been in contact with for a while now…"_

 _Moca did not need the introduction that Tsugumi was giving to know who the third person in the room was. It had been more than three years since she last heard that voice, but even so, Moca would recognize that voice from anywhere. The very same voice that belonged to the person who walked into view._

 _The owner of the voice was a young woman of Moca's age wearing a black-colored hoodie and jeans. Her jet-black hair had grown to reach all the way down to the middle of her back, with the bangs in the front falling down to just below her eyes. Even with the hair trying to hide them, however, those eyes would not be forgotten by someone like Moca. The third girl in the room looked up at Moca, and the instant that the two locked eyes they both knew that Moca had recognized her without any doubt._

 _Mitake Ran then turned to look to the side as she muttered the next few words in Moca's direction._

 _"It's… been a while… hasn't it, Moca?"_

Moca did not know how long she had been lying on her back like that. She did not know where she was or how long she has been unconscious. She did not even know why she was feeling this way in the first place.

Moca stirred slightly, not awake just yet but also no longer sound asleep. The memories of the dream that she found herself in were still cutting through her, reminding her of that oh-so-awful past she tried to cut herself away from. Despite this, she knew that she was still yearning these moments; the illusion of living in a reality where her friend was still alive, while painful, was something that Moca was secretly yearning for. She knew that she shouldn't be so childish as to keep living in a long-forgotten past, but she also knew that she couldn't let go of it in its entirety just yet.

Moca groaned as someone shook her shoulder violently, fully waking the girl in the process. Her throat was dryer than any desert, her body was aching all over as if she had done a ten-kilometer marathon only recently, and the bright rays of sunlight were continuously piercing through the thin veil that was Moca's eyelids. Her body screamed for her to stay where she was the way she was, but Moca knew that she could not afford this.

Through her efforts, Moca saw that her long-time friend was sitting beside her, looking at her with a worried look on her face.

Not wanting to worry her friend for much longer, Moca forced herself into a sitting position. This simple movement was met with a flustered stream of words that Moca did not quite hear.

"I'm all right… Tsugu…" Moca managed to mutter through gritted teeth, covering one half of her face with her hand. She had a throbbing headache now and she did not know if that was because she moved so quickly or because of something else.

In a haze of blurred motion, Moca could barely make out the unfocused form of Tsugumi sitting beside her. The brunette had both her hands raised as if she wanted to reach out to her but hesitation stopped her from going all the way.

"Moca-chan…?" Tsugumi's voice trembled ever so slightly, but both of them knew that Moca had picked up on this. When Moca tilted her head in such a way that she could look at Tsugumi through the gaps in her bangs, Tsugumi gulped, "Can I… Can I get you anything?"

"Some water would be nice," Moca croaked out, half-heartedly motioning to the empty glass on her nightstand. Tsugumi quickly understood and got up, grabbing the glass with her and heading to the nearest sink to fill it. Moca, in the meantime, took a moment to take in her surroundings.

She was in her apartment; more specifically, she was sitting on top of her bed with over half of her blanket hanging off the side of the bed. The room was well lit and Moca guessed that it was around noon already, which would mean that she had been out for at least half a day now.

Moca then yelped out in both surprise and discomfort when she felt a stinging sensation in both of her eyes. Hurriedly rubbing both eyeballs, Moca found to her surprise that her entire forehead was glistening with the cold sweat drops.

This gave her a sense of relief as she used one end of the blanket to wipe away the moisture, but it did result in Moca wondering why she was sweating so much. She didn't have a fever and the room was as pleasantly warm as it always was, not at a temperature where she would be sweating like a pig.

Moca's train of thoughts came to grinding halt when Tsugumi re-entered the room, carrying a full plate of chocolate chips, Moca's favorite pastry from the local bakery, and the glass of cool water she had been asked to get. Tsugumi walked up to Moca's bedside, placed the plate on the nightstand, handed the glass over to Moca and asked with a worried frown, "Moca-chan? How are you feeling?"

"Like I have been sunbathing for years," Moca groaned before downing the glass in one gulp. Feeling better almost instantly as the icy cold liquid flowed down her throat, Moca took a deep breath to try and calm herself down a bit more before murmuring the next few words, "I had a weird dream…"

"Moca-chan…" Tsugumi breathed out, looking around her almost nervously so before finally finding the right words to say next, "What… What kind of a weird dream?"

"…One where Ran was still alive and well. Tsugu and Moca-chan went to a flower shop and we met Ran there. It all felt so… real…" Moca finally admitted after a moment of hesitation, fearing what Tsugumi might say after hearing this. Moca's fears were seemingly realized when she looked over at her friend and saw the look on her face, "You think I am losing my mind and going crazy, right?"

"Ah! Umm… that's not it at all, Moca-chan!" Tsugumi said quickly in an effort to try and reassure her childhood friend. Tsugumi took a moment before she finally confronted Moca again, but when she did there was a crimson fire burning deep within her eyes that wasn't there before, "It's not that I think that Moca-chan is growing crazy, far from it, really! It's that, well… I want to help Moca-chan. Moca-chan is still hurting a lot from that day, right?"

Moca did not respond to Tsugumi's words right away, but Tsugumi got enough confirmation from how Moca reacted. Her breathing hitched, her pupils dilated and Tsugumi could hear the familiar noise of teeth grinding together. Moca may have been able to hide her reaction from anybody else, but Tsugumi had known Moca for too long to be tricked by her.

"You can be honest with her. Sheesh, it's not like you to be so roundabout with how you feel, Moca."

Both Moca and Tsugumi turned their head in the direction of the voice, but both girls did it for different reasons. Standing in front of the door was a young woman who appeared to be about the same age as Moca and Tsugumi. Her long black-colored hair was tied up into a ponytail, but even tied like that Moca could see that it was dangling below her shoulders.

What was the most surprising about her were her amethyst-colored eyes and the determination hidden behind them. Eyes that were not foreign for either Moca or Tsugumi.

Silence filled the room soon after this third person made her presence known, with none of the three girls knowing how to break it. Tsugumi was anxiously waiting for someone else to make a move, not wanting to worsen the situation by doing something careless. Ran, on the other hand, knew that it was not her turn to say or do something yet, so she was waiting patiently while trying to maintain eye contact. And Moca?

"Moca-chan really must be dreaming again. Can you believe that, Tsugu? And Moca-chan could have sworn that Moca-chan was woken up by Tsugu just now, too," Moca laughed loudly, but there was no sign of mirth or happiness audible in her voice at all. Once Moca quieted down again, she held her left cheek in between her index finger and thumb and pinched. Hard.

"Ow! Okay, Moca-chan _isn't_ dreaming…" Moca trailed off, rubbing the now-red skin absent-mindedly. She then turned to Tsugumi and pointed her other index finger at her, "This is a big joke, right Tsugu? A prank to get back at Moca-chan for—."

"Are you really that dumb or did you manage to trick me that you were smart for all those years, Mochan!" Ran called out suddenly, interrupting Moca's accusation with force. With a tint of red adorning her features, Ran offered a small apologetic smile in Tsugumi's direction before turning back to Moca to see how she had reacted to it.

Ran's words shut Moca up, and the ivory-haired girl was seemingly deep in thoughts. Ran was even about to say something to shake Moca back to reality when Moca, for the first since Ran was there, looked Ran right in the eyes.

"So you are neither a cosplayer nor a dream…" Moca thought out loud, to which Ran nodded silently in confirmation prompting Moca to take another moment to think. After a few seconds, Moca seemingly came to a decision when she spoke again, "Is there a way for you to prove that you are you?"

"Of course, it's only natural…" Ran trailed off before she dug through her pockets and showed what was in her hand: a blue-colored constellation-themed bracelet. Tsugumi, while finding the bracelet absolutely gorgeous, did not understand what was so significant about it, but judging on how Moca's eyes widened wide she could have a guess.

"There are only three of those bracelets in the whole world," Moca said to try and explain its significance to the still-clueless Tsugumi, her voice filled with disbelief as she kept her eyes on the piece of jewelry, "Rinko-san has one, she showed me when I visited her the other day."

"The second one… is right here…" Moca continued, pulling the drawer of her nightstand open to reveal an identical bracelet laying there, "And I know who had the third… which means…"

Tsugumi was following along Moca's train of thoughts and she, too, understood where Moca was going with this. The brunette let out a sigh of relief, happy that it all turned out well when she saw Moca jump to her feet.

"M-Moca-chan?" Tsugumi asked in surprise, watching her best friend walk over to where Ran was standing. The subsequent sound of bone meeting flesh at high speeds was accompanied by Tsugumi's cry, "Moca-chan! What are you doing?!"

"Give me one reason, Mitake Ran, why I shouldn't send you to the very grave Tsugu and I have thought you laid in for the past three years!" Moca shouted, her eyes already stinging with the tears she worked so hard to hold back; this was not the time for her to cry just yet and she knew it. Instead, Moca grabbed Ran by the collar, pulled the shorter woman up to her feet and raised her fist again, "Tsugu and I have worried ourselves _sick_ since that day! So tell us what happened right now, Mitake Ran!"

Ran did not even flinch when Moca threatened her again. Instead, Ran simply blinked without a word before turning to look at Tsugumi and direct her next words to her, "You think that I deserved that too, didn't you, Tsugumi?"

"Well… Moca-chan is right on one thing, at least," Tsugumi trailed off, choosing her words carefully to try and avoid the potential wrath of either of her childhood friends. After another moment to think of her escape route should things go bad, she slowly stood up as well, "Ran-chan disappeared for three years, everyone thought that Ran-chan has been dead since then. Moca-chan was affected by it the most, but I was really surprised to hear that you were alive as well. I would like to know what happened, could you please tell us that, Ran-chan?"

Ran let out a deep sigh upon hearing this, but she was far from surprised. In a surprisingly calm fashion, she raised her hand up to where Moca was holding on to her and removed the younger girl's hold.

"All right, I will tell you everything I know. You don't have to believe me or forgive me; I just hope that one day you will understand what happened…" Ran trailed off without looking at either of her former friends. With a raspy intake of air, she steeled herself before facing forward, "Let's start at the beginning, okay?"

* * *

 _It was a bright late-spring morning, and a fifteen-year-old Ran had just finished changing into a more fitting attire for the day. Now wearing a loose-fitting scarlet-colored shirt with an intricate pattern of flowers embroidered into the fabric and a pair of black shorts, the sole heiress to the Mitake Ikebana School was looking out of the window of her room longingly._

 _The sun's beautiful warmth lit up the streets just outside of her house, making sure that she could see everything in perfect detail. From the little thrushes that sat on her windowsill to the radiant smiles on the faces of passersby, Ran knew that she wanted nothing more than to go out there and bask in the sunlight._

 _She knew better than to do that, however. Today was a special day for the heiress as it was the first day in a long time that she and her two closest friends could finally spend the day together. Having all decided on a different career path that required different subjects in school, the three of them kept having their schedules clash and be unable to spend time together. Needless to say, Ran was having trouble containing her excitement for the day._

 _As soon as she heard her father's footsteps outside her room, Ran tore her gaze away from the sight outside the window to greet him. What she had not expected, however, was that her father was currently talking with someone else. Someone Ran only recognized all too well._

 _"What are you doing here, Minato-san?" Ran called out as soon as she saw who her father was talking to. Her voice caught the attention of both her father and of Yukina, both people then proceeded to turn in Ran's direction as Ran added with an expression that crossed a smirk and a scowl, "Isn't it a bit early for you to be coming to other people's homes? Or did you finally agree to admit that I've surpassed you long ago?"_

 _Surprising the heiress, Yukina barely flinched at the choice of words that were flung her way. Instead, she merely blinked a couple of times before turning back to Ran's father, "Mitake-san, may I please have a moment with your daughter? I believe it would be best if I were to tell her in private."_

 _"Very well. And Ran?" Ran's father added as Yukina had walked up to Ran's side. Ran looked at her father and he gave her a small nod, "Behave. No matter how you feel about her, right now she is a guest at the Mitake household. Do I make myself clear?"_

 _"Yes, father," Ran muttered softly, lowering her face slightly so he couldn't see the look on her face. Once she had bowed for slightly longer than she needed to, she raised her head again and motioned for her senior to follow her back into her room._

 _If anything else, Ran was relieved of one thing: she remembered to clean up her room before barreling out to greet her father for once. She did not even want to imagine the amount of teasing she would have had to endure had Yukina visited her on any other day._

 _Ran pulled her chair to the side and motioned for Yukina to sit down on it. Without sparing her a glance, Ran walked up to sit on her bed and watch Yukina with an empty look. Yukina returned the look in kind and the two girls remained in tense silence for what could have been hours._

 _Finally, after twenty seconds since the two girls had sat down, Ran decided to break it with a sigh, "To what do I owe this… honor… Minato-san?"_

 _Yukina did not respond right away to Ran's question, something that did not go unnoticed by Ran. Neither did the trembling figure or shaky balled-up hands of the vocalist-in-training, much to Ran's surprise. Before she could stop herself, Ran was about to ask Yukina about it when Yukina finally opened her mouth._

 _"Well… to tell you the truth, I…" Yukina began, trailing off with a slight tint on her face as she tried to avoid Ran's gaze. After futilely trying to casually extend the inevitable, she sighed and finally admitted, "I wanted to tell you that… well…"_

 _"You wanted to tell me… what, exactly?" Ran asked, hoping to help Yukina and get her to answer. Ran was never known for her patience but she could already feel herself reaching her limit. After taking a deep breath to try and control the tone of her voice, she added, "I promised my father that I would not be rude, but you are testing my patience. What are you doing here, Minato-san?"_

 _"I need to tell you something, Mitake-san," Yukina finally relented after seeing that there was no other way out for her. Steeling herself for the reaction that she would get, Yukina picked up where she had left off, "You… no, I think I—I like someone and I need your advice, Mitake-san."_

* * *

"Hold up there for a bit."

Both Ran and Tsugumi turned to look at Moca with different looks on their faces. While Tsugumi was worried that Moca's interruption may have angered Ran, Ran's reaction was a bit more subdued. Moca could not tell if Ran was angry that she was interrupted or surprised that Moca had been listening for so long already.

Regardless of how her friends felt, Moca could not help herself from almost shouting the question that had been on her mind for a while now, "Minato-san came to _Ran_ for relationship advice?!"

"So you do believe that I am me?"

"I never said that I do," Moca added quickly with a serious look on her face once again. Without missing a step she added, "Moca-chan just finds it amusing to think that Minato-san went crawling to Ran for advice. Don't you think so too, Tsugu?"

"Y-Yeah…" Tsugumi muttered softly, not knowing how else to respond. The brunette was really glued on to the story and she wanted to know what happened next, so Tsugumi turned back to Ran, "So what happened next?"

Ran gave a quick response to Tsugumi's question, but in this short moment of inattention on her, Moca had drowned herself in her own thoughts.

'Minato-san said that she wanted to tell Ran and warn her but that she couldn't… did she chicken out at the last second for another reason here or did she not know what would happen only moments after she left Ran's—?'

"Moca-chan?"

Moca was brought back to reality from her own little world when Tsugumi gently shook her shoulder. Moca tried to laugh it off and brush off Tsugumi's worries, and in an effort to do so she motioned for Ran to continue her story.

Ran barely raised an eyebrow, already knowing how Moca behaves sometimes but still making a mental note of this. She knew that she still needed to tell them the story, and thus tried to pick up where she had left off.

"After Minato-san told me about that and I told her that I could not help her, we talked for a bit more about random things. I hate to admit it, but… I did not hate that chat with Minato-san," Ran recalled, doing her best to suppress the smile from forming on her face. She shook her head and continued telling her story, "She then left and I continued on with my morning routines the same as always."

* * *

 _Ran closed the front door with an audible sigh, lowering her face and allowing her bangs to obscure her vision a bit. Yukina had just left the household and it had taken every bit of Ran's remaining willpower to be polite enough. Now that the house was one Minato less once again Ran could take a deep breath._

 _"Ran!"_

 _Ran flinched upon hearing her name, both as a result of the volume of the voice and the suddenness of it. When she turned to look in the direction the voice came from she saw that her father was standing only a few steps away from her, "What did your friend want to talk to you about?"_

 _Ran wanted to scoff at that, but managed to hold herself back at the very last second. Minato-san her friend? Knowing that she should respond in a timely manner, Ran shook these thoughts out of her head and looked up at her father, "Nothing in particular. Minato-san simply wanted a bit of advice."_

 _"And did you give her that to the standards of the Mitake name?" Ran's father asked, not letting up the permanent scowl on his face. Ran's response, a small and stiff nod, seemed to appease him enough for him to relax a little, "Very well."_

 _A short period of silence followed hereafter with neither father nor daughter knowing how to break it or leave the hall without seeming rude. Finally, after a tense three minutes, Ran decided that she could not afford to stand there any longer._

 _"Please excuse me, father. Moca and Tsugumi will be here shortly and I still need to prepare for their arrival," Ran said after having cleared her throat awkwardly. Meeting her father's stare with one of her own, she tried to elaborate a bit further, "We agreed to meet up and spend the day together. With how busy school has been for all of us we haven't really had the chance to be together in the last year."_

 _"I understand. Go right ahead," Ran's father nodded, stepping to the side so Ran could walk past him. Ran muttered a few words of gratitude before doing exactly that, but before she could open the door leading to her room her father had spoken again, "And Ran? Have fun with your friends."_

 _Ran hesitated upon hearing these words, not sure if she had heard them correctly or how to properly respond to them. By the time she had thought of something to say her father had already retreated back into his own room, leaving Ran alone in the corridor._

 _"I really do need to get ready. We've agreed to meet here at ten and it is already eleven, so Moca and Tsugumi should be here in about fifteen minutes," Ran said to herself, recalling how her friend was when it came to being on time. Forcing herself to not laugh out loud, she walked back into her room when she noticed something._

 _Ran's nose wrinkled at the unfamiliar stench. It felt familiar… but she could not identify it. She knew that it wasn't one of the new flowers, either, as she knew that her father had not ordered new flowers to be delivered._

 _But what could that be?_

 _Ran's eyes went wide in terror when she realized what it was: a gas leak. And knowing that her mother was about to start cooking lunch for the family, Ran knew that she did not have a lot of time._

 _Spinning around on her heel, Ran broke into a sprint to the kitchen only to see that her mother was standing in front of the stove. Ran called out to her mother in desperation but she did not seem to hear her, and Ran felt her body move on her own._

 _Before Ran knew what she was doing she had already thrown herself flat on the ground and braced for what she knew was coming. A thunderous sound, a wave of heat unlike anything she ever felt, and the tornado of dust and debris were all that Ran's brain processed next._

 _And then it was still and everything turned to black._

* * *

Ran took a deep breath and, despite herself, took a moment to relax a bit after that long period of talking. She never was the type to keep talking for as long as she had and, Ran realized as she glanced at her watch, it had been almost an hour since she started recounting her past. She looked at Moca and Tsugumi to see how they were taking in all of this information, both girls thinking it over in their own unique way.

Seeing that it might be best to give Moca and Tsugumi some time, Ran excused herself to head to the kitchenette and grab a glass of water for herself. She didn't come far once she left Moca's bedroom, however, as her attention was drawn somewhere else.

A small framed picture, depicting about twenty girls who were all smiling brightly in front of the entrance to a school, stood innocently on one of the tables. Ran had silently picked it up and scanned over the many faces as memories start to resurface in her mind.

"After all these years, huh Mochan?" Ran asked softly as she allowed her index finger to stroke the edges of the frame lightly. Not wanting to wallow in the past, Ran shook her head and turned around when she heard footsteps and asking one of the two the next question, "You've really kept it all this time, didn't you?"

"Of course, it was one of the last things reminding us of you," Moca said, avoiding looking Ran in the eyes but already seemingly a lot calmer than she was earlier. She walked up to Ran, pulled the picture frame from her hands, returned it back to its rightful spot and walked back to Tsugumi's side, "There is one thing that I am still curious about. So say that you are really Mitake Ran and you really did survive that explosion, how come it doesn't look like it damaged you too much? Tsugu and I were there and it was one heck of an explosion."

"Who is to say that it didn't leave its mark on me?" Ran said with a slight but sad smirk. When she saw the looks on her friends' faces, she took a moment before saying, "I hadn't finished my story yet, but I think both of you know what happened after that."

"We were right outside your house when it happened," Tsugumi finally admitted in a soft voice after a prolonged period of silence. Then, almost hesitantly so, she added, "That huge cloud and mini-earthquake that followed… I still have nightmares of it sometimes."

"Tsugu…" Moca turned to her friend with wide eyes, the realization of what happened only now sinking in. While she was well aware of the fact that she has had trouble moving on from that day, she never quite realized what kind of an effect it had on her hardworking friend. Moca seemed like she wanted to say something else but Tsugumi interrupted her with a small shake of her head.

"What happened to me and what I went through after that isn't what is important here, Moca-chan," Tsugumi said, her voice gentle but hiding a fierce determination unlike any other. With a warm smile she turned back to Ran, "Ran-chan, what did you mean when you said that it didn't leave its mark on you? Of course, we understand that it did; even if you survived it must have caused you quite the shock, right?"

"That… is not false…" Ran finally admitted sheepishly, but turned serious again soon after, "No, I was talking about something else. And this mark is also the reason why I disappeared for the last three years without a trace."

"This better be good or I still won't forgive you, Ran!" Moca threatened though both Ran and Tsugumi noticed quickly that the threat was a lot milder than the ones Moca had thrown around earlier. Tsugumi smiled when she realized this, and even the ends of Ran's mouth threatened to curve up.

"Whether it is good or not is not why I am here," Ran said while taking a moment to look at both of her friends, and it was because of this that she noticed it.

She noticed how much Moca and Tsugumi had grown since she had last met them. She noticed how much they must have gone through to get to this point. And she noticed how strong her bonds were with her as they were still trying to give her another chance.

'I really don't deserve either of you, and nothing I can do will tell you how sorry I am for what I have done,' Ran thought to herself as her vision of the Moca and Tsugumi in front of her slowly faded out to make room for the Moca and Tsugumi that Ran had left behind. Ran knew at that very moment that she wouldn't have any regrets no matter what her friends' reaction would be like, 'But for what I was to you in the past… I owe you an explanation so you can move on with your life.'

Ran took a deep breath as she readied herself for the final part of her story. But before she could open her mouth, she felt the familiar damp feeling on her cheeks as two more words popped up into her mind.

'Without me.'

* * *

 **And that wraps up today's chapter! Wow, it sure is tiresome trying to keep up with my fics when so many things are going in real life for me at the moment, so please don't expect a fixed update schedule as of yet for this… Anyways, with how big this part of the story is for, well… the story as a whole… we decided to cut it up so it would (1) not feel too rushed and (2) so that each chapter has approximately the same word count.**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a review telling me what you thought and until next time! Take care!**


	13. The Story (Part 2)

**All right, thank you for the patience, everybody! I think real life has gotten a bit more stable so I _hope_ that the rest of the story can _at least_ be posted once a month. But we'll see…**

 **A special thank you to the reviewers from last time and to the person who beta read this chapter. It's not LightZephyr this time around, though, but the person who did the beta reading had asked me to remain anonymous, so… yeah… you know who you are, though, and this one's for you~!**

 **I do not own BanG Dream! Girls Band Party, nor do I, in any way, shape or form, intend to pretend that I do.**

* * *

 _'I really don't deserve either of you, and nothing I can do will tell you how sorry I am for what I have done,' Ran thought to herself as her vision of the Moca and Tsugumi in front of her slowly faded out to make room for the Moca and Tsugumi that Ran had left behind. Ran knew at that very moment that she wouldn't have any regrets no matter what her friends' reaction would be like, 'But for what I was to you in the past… I owe you an explanation so you can move on with your life.'_

 _Ran took a deep breath as she readied herself for the final part of her story. But before she could open her mouth, she felt the familiar damp feeling on her cheeks as two more words popped up into her mind._

 _'Without me.'_

"Ran-chan?"

Tsugumi's voice broke Ran out of her train of thoughts, returning the eldest of the three back to the present. While she tried to hide that fact, she knew that it was a futile attempt knowing the company she was with.

"Sorry, Tsugumi, I was just thinking about something," Ran admitted without looking at her friends. Instead, Ran plopped down on the couch with a sigh before finally looking up with an unreadable expression on her face, "Anyway, Mochan, Tsugumi, the two of you wanted to know what kind of mark that day left on me, right?"

Neither Moca nor Tsugumi responded right away; instead, the two of them looked at each other before nodding silently in Ran's direction. It was finally Tsugumi who broke the silence by stepping forward a step.

"We do, because we want to know what really happened and what you went through, Ran-chan," Tsugumi explained in a soft voice as she held out her hand towards Ran. When she sensed the hesitation hidden behind Ran's eyes, the brunette added, "Don't worry, Ran-chan. We understand that it will be a scar on Ran-chan's beautiful skin. We'll still accept you as our friend, right, Moca-chan?"

Moca was silent, much to Tsugumi's surprise. Tsugumi was about to turn to her friend and tell her off when Moca revealed the reason why she had been so quiet, "Say, Ran… I've been hearing this continuous mechanical sound since you've arrived, any idea what it is?"

Tsugumi abandoned her attempt, finding to her surprise that Moca had been right: a soft creaking sound had been bouncing off the apartment's inner walls from time to time that day. A sound that, Tsugumi now realized once she focused on it, was not something that was usually there in Moca's apartment.

Tsugumi had just been too preoccupied with holding Moca back from killing Ran to notice it earlier, but now that she was trying to she could hear it as well.

Ran merely blinked a couple of times as she processed what Moca had just said, but she did not seem at all surprised at this development. With the ghosts of a smile on her face, Ran forced herself to stand up and turn to her childhood friends.

"I guess it's best to just show the two of you what happened to me on that day," Ran said with a small smile, one that hid all the pain that she must have gone through in the past. Shaking her head in order to keep a clear mind, Ran bend down on her knees. Ignoring the looks she was getting, Ran continued where she had left off, "I may have survived that day, but the price was a high one."

Without wasting another second, Ran pulled up the ends of her pants, revealing her legs in the process. Or, much to Moca's and Tsugumi's horror, what was left of Ran's legs. Ran's biological legs were crudely cut off right below her knees, her right leg slightly lower than her left. Below that were mechanical prosthetics that supported Ran's weight comfortably.

Instead of answering her friend's question, Ran chose that moment to walk around a bit with her pants pulled up. The prosthetics, while moving smoothly to keep Ran's body moving comfortably, were very clearly the cause of the sound that Moca had been hearing earlier.

"Ran-chan…" Tsugumi's words were muffled by her hands that she held in front of her mouth. Forcing herself to not cry as she knew she had to be strong, now more than ever, Tsugumi lowered her hands enough for her next words to be somewhat audible. Despite this, however, it was still barely above a whisper, "How long…?"

Ran did not answer Tsugumi right away; instead, she took her time to lower her pants and cover her prosthetics once again. With a sigh, Ran straightened herself before finally answering the brunette's question, "It was on that day when…"

Ran trailed off, looking away from the two she considered her closest friends as she did so. She had started to second guess her decision, but fortunately for her, she did not need to tell the complete story for Moca and Tsugumi to understand.

The three ended up in a long period of uninterrupted silence where Ran did not know how to continue the story and Moca and Tsugumi were still processing what they had just learned. Tsugumi, being the youngest of the three, was visibly the most distraught at this revelation.

Moca took a glance at Tsugumi and knew that she needed to step in now, no matter how much it would hurt her. She owed Tsugumi at least that much.

"Why, Ran?"

These two words were spoken in a soft, careful, and almost terrified voice, but it had its intended effect. Ran had been returned out of her thoughts and looked at Moca with wide eyes. When Ran asked Moca what she had meant, Moca took a moment to think of the right words to say before she finally said them.

"Why did you… disappear like that? And why were Tsugu and I told that you… that you…" Moca tried, but she just could not finish her sentence knowing how much that memory had affected her in the past.

Thankfully for Moca, she did not need to finish her sentence; the other two people in the room fully understood what Moca was trying to say, and Ran herself fell into a short period of silence.

Ran needed to fully remind herself of what happened. Not because she did not remember or could not find the right words to tell her childhood friends the story; Ran had been preparing for this moment for quite some time.

No, the reason why Ran waited was that she wanted to relive through that pain. She needed to feel the anguish and despair she had felt for so long, knowing that that was the only way for her to try and properly respond to Moca. Or, at the very least, Ran thought that that was the case.

"I can't remember much after that explosion happened," Ran admitted with a painful grimace without looking at Moca directly, her voice trembling more than she would have liked it to. Taking a deep breath to try and regain control, Ran added, "I was under all that rubble and the next thing that happened I was laying in the hospital bed."

"You didn't answer my question."

"M-Moca-chan!"

"No, Tsugumi, Mochan is right; I was getting to that point, actually," Ran said, stopping Tsugumi from trying to stop Moca. After exchanging glances with Moca, the two nodded as one before Ran continued, "Anyway, as I was saying… the next thing that I remember was waking up in a hospital bed that same afternoon. I can't remember how I got there, but I assumed people were sent over to the site to see if they could help anyone. And, in doing so, they found me and brought me to the hospital…"

Ran closed her eyes for a split second too long for it to be just a simple blink. Both Moca and Tsugumi were quick to pick up on this, but they knew that they should not try to interrupt Ran again.

Their patience was rewarded when Ran opened her mouth again several minutes later.

"And then…"

* * *

 _Ran stirred in her sleep, the heiress of the now-fallen Mitake Flower Arrangement School was slowly waking up from her slumber. The last thing that she remembered was being crushed by the ruins of her house and suffocating from the lack of oxygen. It was because of this that she was acutely aware of how calm and peaceful it was._

 _She did not feel any pain at all, her breathing was calm and controlled and seemingly unaffected by all the dust that she must have inhaled and, more than anything, it felt like she was floating. Was she still sleeping and was this all a dream, or was this how it felt going to the other side?_

 _Was this… the end of her?_

 _Ran would have wandered within her mindscape for eternity when a sudden jolt caused her to open her eyes wide._

 _"Ah, she's awake!_

 _Ran's brain processed, albeit only barely, what her ears had picked up. A soft and gentle voice that radiated a sense of authority and confidence with it had wrapped itself around Ran in a warm embrace._

 _Ran tried to tilt her head in the direction the voice came from when she felt two hands on her; one of them was holding on to Ran's shoulder while the other was trying to guide Ran's head to look the other way._

 _"I am over here, Mitake-san," the purple-haired woman said, smiling brightly when she saw recognition in Ran's eyes. Letting go off the injured girl, she took a step back and asked carefully, "What can you remember, Mitake-san? Of what happened earlier today or anything else before that?"_

 _Not being used to the brightly lit room that she was in, Ran needed a moment or two to blink her eyes rapidly to adjust. Once she was used to the brightness and how white the room actually was, Ran took in the appearance of the person who was standing in front of her._

 _A fair-skinned young woman who Ran could only assume was in her mid-twenties, she had lavender-colored hair that was tied in a bun under the white hat that she wore. In addition to her hat, she wore a light-blue nurse uniform, but it were her eyes that caught Ran's attention right away._

 _Ran had never seen so much affection in anyone's eyes other than Tsugumi herself._

 _'Tsugumi… Mochan…'_

 _Ran shook her head vigorously, knowing that there was no use to worry about something beyond her power. For now, at least. So instead, Ran tried to focus on the nurse's question and forced her mind to remember what had happened._

 _It took a bit for her to dig up what happened, but her mental efforts were soon rewarded. Ran groaned as the memories started to flow back in her mind, not only seeing each scene before her but experiencing them again as if she was there again. She took a moment to take it all in before she almost doubled over in pain of the headache._

 _Shrugging off the nurse's insistence on wanting to help and having one hand supporting her forehead, Ran muttered through gritted teeth, "I was… at home, and then… an explosion… and… that's all that I remember, I'm sorry?"_

 _A short period of silence followed after Ran had explained what she remembered and the nurse gave Ran some painkillers for the headache. The silence was eventually broken, but not by either Ran or the nurse._

 _The door to the room had opened only for a stern-looking man to walk in. A tall man with dark blue hair that had been combed back, Ran could see streaks of white in his hair and could not see if that was due to his age or voluntarily coloring it as such. His eyes that were protected by the pair of glasses that he wore radiated a sense of authority, but they quickly softened when he saw Ran._

 _"Mitake-san, I am glad to see that you are awake," the man said in a surprisingly calm voice. He then turned to the nurse and directed his next few words to her, "How long has Mitake-san be up?"_

 _"About ten minutes, doctor," the nurse answered quickly after taking a quick peek on her watch. Sensing that she was no longer needed in the room, she was about to make her escape when she remembered something. The nurse stopped midstride to look at the girl laying in the hospital bed and offered a warm smile, "My name is Kudou Fuyuka, by the way. Mitake-san, please don't hesitate to press the button on your left if something is wrong."_

 _The nurse, whose face Ran could finally attach a name to, gave a quick bow to the doctor before she turned and left the room. This left the room quiet, but not completely silent._

 _As Ran was still trying to put the pieces of her memory back together, the doctor cleared his throat in a way that reminded Ran of—_

 _"Father!" Ran cried out all of a sudden and jolted into an upright position. Ran's voice did not seem to surprise the doctor; instead, he seemed a lot more relaxed knowing that Ran had just called out to her father._

 _"I see that, at the very least, your memory does not seem to be too affected if at all, Mitake-san," the doctor said with a small nod, taking out a pen and notepad and scribbling down a few lines on the paper. After pulling up a chair by the bed's side and making himself as comfortable as one can be sitting on a chair by a bedridden patient's side, he took a deep breath._

 _The doctor wasted no time in explaining the summarized version of what had happened to a wide-eyed Ran. How the leak in gas had caused an explosion strong enough to obliterate her entire house in the process. He emphasized this point by showing Ran a photograph of her house… or what remained of it, anyway._

 _The house was nothing more than a ruin now; the walls and roof had collapsed in on themselves before shattering into smaller pieces when impacting the ground below. The photograph also showed the lower parts of the Mitake household shrouded in a thin veil of dust and debris. Evidently, this picture was taken not too long after the house was destroyed, and Ran had to grit her teeth to stop herself from crying out._

 _"What… Where are my parents?" Ran's voice was barely above a whisper as she asked the question both of them knew would be asked eventually. After a moment of hesitation mainly stemming from Ran's inability and, more than that, unwillingness to accept the worse option as an answer, Ran added, "They are… going to be all right, right doctor?"_

 _The doctor, to his credit, did not show any emotion when Ran asked her question. Unfortunately, this in and of itself was already answer enough for the girl who managed to piece the information together herself._

 _"I… am not sure yet, I am sorry," the doctor finally relented, admitting his weakness. With a sigh that reminded him of his age, something that he did not think he would forget after being teased about it by his young daughter on a daily basis, he calmed down his nerves. Before long, he could maintain eye contact with the patient who was young enough to be his own daughter, "Both your father and mother came out of it worse than you did. They are still being treated as we speak, and until their conditions are stable I cannot tell you for sure."_

 _Ran nodded silently at this, accepting this as a response to her inquiry. She knew that both her father and her mother were much too hardheaded to let something like this keep them down for very long, but even Ran could not help herself from worrying._

 _It was because of this moment of distraction that Ran had not realized the doctor standing back up._

 _"Unfortunately, I am afraid that your parents will be the least of your worries right now. You did not come out of that accident in… one piece…" the doctor said with the smallest hint of sadness, but Ran was able to pick up on it quickly. Seeing that Ran understood that something was wrong, the doctor added, "When the explosion happened, the house collapsed in on itself and you inhaled a dangerous amount of dust as a result. We managed to minimize the damage it did to your lungs the best we could, but we could not do much for your legs."_

 _"I… am really sorry, Mitake-san…"_

 _Ran, realizing quickly at the weight of the issue when the doctor looked away in pain, grimaced herself. She had a feeling she understood what had happened now, but for her to be sure without a shred of doubt… would she really be ready for it and could she handle the truth?_

 _Swallowing hesitantly as she tried to gather the strength she would need to do what she knew she had to do, Ran's trembling hands took a hold of the last barrier. A fraction of a second before she would lose all the gathered determination to find out, Ran threw the blanket off herself and had to stifle a gasp at what she saw._

 _If Ran had hoped to see her feet on the other end of the mattress she would be in for a surprise. Instead of seeing her lower legs she was instead graced with the sight of her lower legs being completely covered in bandages. The fact that her legs were disproportionately shorter than the rest of her body already told Ran enough of what she needed to know._

 _"It was… a lot worse than I thought…" Ran finally managed to breathe out after a while. After taking another breath to try and calm down what remained of her nerves, Ran added without looking up from her legs, "Is there… a way for me… for them to…"_

 _"There is none," the doctor wasted no time at all to tell Ran of the news. While the revelation did hit her hard, Ran also found that, much to her surprise, she felt reassured at the idea. At least she would be able to accept her future like this._

 _Ran was so lost in her own thoughts that she visibly flinched when the doctor's voice reached her ears again._

 _"Excuse me, doctor, but could you please say that again?" Ran asked, looking up at the older man and silently praying that she did not sound too rude or direct there. Her worries were quickly eased when the doctor nodded and gave her a proper response._

 _"We weren't able to save your legs or help them recover, and this was, unfortunately, the only way we could think of to save you. Or, well… most of you, at least," the doctor explained without skipping a beat. He then bent down to pick up a box by Ran's bedside with a fair share of difficulty and opened the lid to reveal its content. As Ran peered inside, he added with a small smile, "But that does not mean that there is no way for you to walk again, now does it?"_

 _Ran did not need to think twice before nodding her head vigorously._

* * *

 _A week had passed since Ran had been admitted to the hospital and things did not seem to be moving as smoothly as Ran would have liked. Not only was she not making a lot of progress with getting used to the prosthetic legs that had been given to her, but she also had another annoying problem going on._

 _Almost as if on cue, the familiar sound that would most accurately be described as the love child of a snort and a chuckle shattered the silence._

 _"What's so funny?" Ran asked, her voice coming out a lot more aggressive than she would have liked. She made sure to mumble a quiet apology, but her words were waved off by the other presence in the room._

 _"I know that I am speaking out of turn here, but I just found it very amusing to see the once proud and determined Mitake-san in such a sorry state. Mitake-san is even unable to run from her problems for once," the other girl explained as she at least had the decency to step away from the wall that she had been leaning against. Pulling her hands out of the pockets of her hoodie, Okusawa Misaki's features hardened by the time she spoke again, "I have told them what you wanted me to tell them, but are you sure about this? I can still go back and say that I had misheard it or something."_

 _"Yeah…" Ran trailed off without looking at her classmate, not needing a lot of time to make up her mind. Any images in her mind that would try to get her to second guess her decision, most of which contained either Moca or Tsugumi in them, were shaken off rather quickly. After a moment of hesitation, Ran voiced the next couple of words while gripping her blankets tightly, "It's better this way…"_

 _'I am not quite so sure… but it is your choice and your life, and compared to Aoba-san and Hazawa-san… yeah, I am just an outsider to Mitake-san…' Misaki thought to herself, but had enough self-control to stop herself from telling Ran. Instead, Misaki let out a big sigh and voiced the question that had popped up in her mind, "So what is your plan now if I may ask? Aoba-san and Hazawa-san will find out someday, and you probably do not intend to stay here forever, are you?"_

 _"No… which is why I need your help again. I promise it won't be as troublesome as convincing Mochan or Tsugumi that I died," Ran said, adding the last bit rather quickly when she saw the look on Misaki's face. When Ran knew that Misaki had calmed down a bit, she pulled the drawer of her nightstand and took out its contents._

 _Dangling by a string in Ran's fingers was a blue-colored constellation-themed bracelet. The bracelet refracted the light off its surface and shone brilliantly in the late-afternoon sunlight. Even the usually collected Misaki was staring at the beautiful sight in front of her._

 _"I will lend you this bracelet, but I want to get it back when you finished my request. This bracelet… is really important to me," Ran said in a soft voice as she gave the item to Misaki's waiting hands. As Misaki made sure that she wrapped the bracelet up securely, Ran added, "And it will be important to you for what I am going to ask of you, Okusawa-san."_

 _"If Mitake-san sounds this serious then there really is no way for me to be able to turn down this request," Misaki sighed in defeat, but she did not sound disappointed or exasperated. Instead, her eyes were radiating a certain glint of determination that it usually lacked, and it was with this that she asked the question that Ran knew she would need to answer._

 _"There are exactly three of those bracelets out there. I got one, Mochan has the other, and for this all to work I need you to find who has the third bracelet," Ran explained, watching Misaki intently to see any reaction on the girl's face. There weren't any, so Ran continued, "I'm sure that even Okusawa-san would understand. If Mochan and Tsugumi were to believe that I have died years ago by the time we meet again, I need something that can convince them that I am really… well… that I am really me."_

 _"And for that to happen, Mitake-san needs little old Misaki to find the owner of the third bracelet, introduce that person to Aoba-san and Hazawa-san and then let Mitake-san take care of the rest?" Misaki asked, having put the pieces together before Ran managed to say it herself. When she got the confirmation that she needed in the form of a stiff nod, Misaki decided to voice the last remaining concern that she had, "But what if this third person does not want to cooperate with Mitake-san's plan?"_

 _Ran, much to Misaki's visible surprise, did not seem to be troubled by this idea. Instead of showing worry, Ran started to chuckle softly to herself._

 _The sound of Ran's laughter soon filled the room, bouncing off the walls and creating a cacophony of noise. And while Misaki was happy to see the bedridden girl make such a sound, she was also starting to grow increasingly irritated by the headache the echoes were causing her._

 _"What is so funny, Mitake-san?"_

 _"The fact that Okusawa-san is the same as always. This means that I still have hope with Mochan and Tsugumi once all things are over and done with," Ran explained as she used one hand to wipe the corner of her eyes. Ran was quick to return to her serious self and added, "Okusawa-san just needs to find this person and ask them to meet me, I will make them an offer that they cannot refuse in order to ask for their help. No matter who it is, I…"_

 _Misaki watched Ran clamp up once again and it was at that moment that she understood what all of this meant to her. As the corners of her mouth threatened to twitch up into a smile, Misaki was quick to spin on her heel in order to maintain the image she had worked so hard to perfect._

 _"I understand, Mitake-san. I will be on my way and convince them as soon as I find them," Misaki said as she excused herself. She was about to step outside when she second-guessed her decision. Misaki stopped mid-stride, took a deep breath and said, "For what it is worth, Mitake-san… I am really sorry you are going through all of this, and as someone you put your trust in, I will do my best to try and help you. Get some rest, you are going to need it if you are to stand up again."_

 _Before Ran could say something in response, Misaki had already left the room to leave Ran alone with her thoughts._

* * *

Ran let out an exasperated sigh before taking a sip of her drink, her throat having grown very dry after all the talking that she had done so far. Despite this, however, Ran knew that she needed to do this and that her aching throat was nowhere near the troubles her two childhood friends went through because of her.

So before Moca and Tsugumi even had the time to try and process everything that Ran had said, Ran was already speaking again.

"Ever since I ended up in the hospital and that doctor told me about my legs, I have been undergoing special treatments to try and get used to these," Ran said as she motioned towards her lower legs with a mix of emotions on her face. As she did, Ran did not fail to notice the hints of a wince on Tsugumi's face, but Ran carried on as always, "But that is nothing compared to what I made the two of you go through."

"I was a mess back then, which is why I asked Okusawa-san to tell you what she did. I was selfish, I know this," Ran hissed that last bit through gritted teeth and clenched fists. The only thing that kept her going was the numbing pain in the palms of her hands, "I did not want to see either of you see me in that condition. I made both of you suffer so much more than I actually had to because of my stubborness, and… At this point, you two probably never want to see—"

"None of that!"

Ran looked up in surprise, surprise that she managed to hide quite well, and saw a trembling figure in front of her. Ran's mind was a mess at that point; seeing her usually happy and energetic childhood friend this upset tore at Ran's insides. On the other hand, Ran had grown enough to know that she had no right to try and comfort the younger girl.

Thankfully for Ran, she never needed to make a decision herself as the girl in front of her raised her head back up and glared at Ran with a fire that had never burned in those eyes before. Ran could even feel herself shuffle a bit away in fear at the intensity.

"Ran-chan… Ran-chan went through a lot, too!" Tsugumi cried out, feeling the back of her eyes start to sting from the unshed tears that threatened to spill. Right before the dam broke down, Tsugumi made sure to wipe her eyes with the sleeve of her shirt before adding, "And we can't be separated again! Not now after all these years!"

Having shouted to her heart's content already, Tsugumi flung herself at Ran, wrapped her arms around the girl and began sobbing hysterically in Ran's shoulder. Neither Moca nor Ran really knew what to do or say here; Tsugumi had always been the beacon of positivity and happiness, so seeing her in this state really shook the two of them.

Before Ran had realized what she was doing, she had returned the embrace that Tsugumi had started while stroking the brunette's back with one hand. Ran had hoped that this simple action would help Tsugumi calm down and, much to Ran's surprise and relief, it did.

Ran didn't even realize that Moca had moved over and sat down by Ran's side until Ran felt a third hand on her.

"Ran still has a long way to go before Moca-chan finally forgives her~," Moca began in a sing-song voice, visibly enjoying the reaction it managed to get out of Ran in the process. Before Ran managed to react to what Moca had said, Moca had started to speak again, "But Moca-chan finally understands about one percent of what Ran must have gone through as well. I am sure that we can find some way to get us all back to the same as always, wouldn't you say, Ran~? If not for us, then at least for our adorable Tsugu-tan over there~"

Tsugumi, for her part, managed to stay calm after how Moca called her. Or, at the very least, the brunette did not take the bait; she was still shaking slightly from the tears that had already drenched Ran's shoulder.

Ran, on the other hand, did more than just react to it. If she had been caught off guard by how Tsugumi behaved after hearing Ran's story, she was blown away by the support that Moca had shown her.

"Tsugumi… Mochan…" Ran breathed out as she first glanced at the brunette in her arms and then at Moca with wide eyes. Despite the past three years having separated the two girls, they both already knew from that one simple glance. It was now Ran's turn to have her eyes start to turn watery.

"T-Thank you…" Ran managed to say before she finally succumbed to her emotions as well. Tightening her grip on the shirt of Tsugumi, Ran added, "Thank you so much…"

Ran was already lost in her own set of tears by the time that Moca wrapped her own arms around her.

The three childhood friends would remain like that for a long time, none of them wanting to let go off the other. It would only be long after the sun had set when one of them finally managed to break away from the group hug.

No matter how much she wanted it to continue, she was not the immature and rash girl she used to be. With a bit of difficulty, the shortest of the three half-carried and half-dragged the other two to bed, tucked them in under the blanket and snuggled close to her two closest friends once again.

The bed was barely big enough to fit two people in it so three people were really pushing the limits. The girl who dragged the other two there did not seem to care, however, and instead focused on the memories of how they would often sleep together like this.

With a content sigh, she allowed herself to drift off with one final thought in her mind and a smile gracing her lips.

'Just like the same as always.'

* * *

 **There we go, that wraps it all up~ the story? No way, we're still quite a ways away~! This story was planned to last for twenty chapters, so expect the chapter count to be in the 18-22 range… assuming, of course, that nothing too drastic happens regarding the plan for the story.**

 **Anyways, I hope that you all enjoyed this chapter, please leave a review telling me what you thought, and until next time~ take care~!**


	14. Silver, White, Platinum, and Gold

**…Did this post without too long of a delay? I sure hope so… I was already working on this chapter before the last chapter got uploaded, after all.**

 **A special thank you to the reviewers of the last chapter, and another special thank you to ShinyPidgey20 for the beta read!**

 **I do not own BanG Dream! Girls Band Party**

* * *

It had been a week since Ran had been reunited with both of her childhood friends and they had been near-inseparable ever since. While their time together was not free of a sense of awkwardness, it was definitely something that all three girls were relishing.

The majority of their time together had been spent on trying to catch up more. After Ran had gotten the opportunity to get Moca and Tsugumi up to date with what she had been going through, they had switched roles and allowed for Ran to listen. From what she understood, it had barely been any better than what she went through herself.

"How does this feel, Ran-chan?" Tsugumi asked as she glanced at the girl in question. The brunette had made the conscious decision to stand in between Ran and Moca in case something went wrong, something that Tsugumi knew the other two were silently appreciating, "It must feel weird, doesn't it?"

"It does, kind of…" Ran admitted before bending down and lowering herself down on one knee. Without showing hints of emotion on her face, she used the back of her hand to dust the surface of the tombstone before gently tracing the word written on it. As Ran did this, she made sure to voice the thoughts that popped up into her mind, "I'm sure you two would be, too, if you were to see your own name written on one of these things."

'So this is all that Mochan and Tsugumi had to remind themselves of me…' Ran thought to herself silently, taking care to make a mental note of the state of the tombstone itself. Before she knew what she was doing, her eyes had gravitated towards the vase that held a variety of flowers. Ran's eyes widened when she noticed something peculiar about them, 'Those flowers… they came from different days. Those two… they came here regularly, didn't they?'

Tsugumi fell silent after hearing Ran's comment, understanding that the older girl was right. She and Moca then relegated themselves to simply watching Ran as she tried to burn the sight into her memory.

What she was seeing right now was not the only thing that she tried to burn into her memory, however. Ran was trying to visualize her friends coming to this place regularly and talking to her grave. She knew that both Moca and Tsugumi were too nice for their own good, having forgiven her for everything for the most part already, but Ran also knew that she still had a long way to go.

Even if Moca and Tsugumi had forgiven Ran for what happened, Ran knew that she had yet to forgive herself.

It had taken Ran over ten minutes before she finally decided to stand back up and motioned for the other two girls to follow her.

Ran led her childhood friends to a bench located not too far away from the empty grave with her name on it. As soon as the three of them reached it they all plopped down with a sigh of relief.

Amongst the three friends it was Ran who seemed the least fazed about going here, a fact that she chalked up to the fact that it had been her to ask the others to come here in the first place. Starting to feel slightly guilty after seeing the looks on both Moca's and Tsugumi's faces, Ran excused herself for a bit.

Within half an hour, Ran had returned with a plastic bag filled with sweets and several cans of juice for the girls to share. Moca and Tsugumi did not waste any time before digging in on the treat, quickly rejuvenating their energy in the process.

"So, Ran…" Moca began after a short period of silence, lowering the can in her hand in the process. Moca felt, more than anything, the looks that she was getting from her friends, but she ultimately chose to ignore that feeling to turn to Ran fully, "Do you think that Tsugu and I can meet with the people who helped you? I want to thank them personally."

"Wasn't Moca-chan drinking coffee with Misaki-chan just last week?" Tsugumi thought out loud, recalling the person's face who had chatted with Moca in the Hazawa Café. The brunette had already spoken again before Moca could properly respond to Tsugumi's words, "So it should be pretty easy to get a hang on her, right?"

"Misaki-chin just seems to come and go when she pleases, especially now that high school is behind us," Moca said with a shrug of the shoulders before taking another sip of her drink. Seemingly about to say something else, Moca changed her mind and turned to Ran instead, "Ran should be able to get in touch with Misaki-chin, right?"

"I should, yes," Ran confirmed Moca's thoughts, much to the taller girl's visible amusement. As Moca handed another can to Tsugumi, Ran dug through her pockets before pulling out her phone. She did not need a lot of time to find Misaki's number as the phone only had a handful of numbers registered in it.

'I'll also finally be able to pay that debt to you, Okusawa-san…' Ran thought to herself as her fingers typed away. Ran had been tempted to just call Misaki's phone straight away, but she knew how Misaki would react if she were to call her out of the blue. Not to mention that Ran herself was not very good at the phone and the decision of sending a text message instead had already been made for her.

"Any place in particular you want to meet her, Mochan?" Ran asked, forcing the girl to stop her efforts of poking Tsugumi in the cheeks and give Ran her undivided attention again. Ran saw the look that Moca was giving her and, in her haste, ended up misinterpreting what it meant, "Okusawa-san is hard enough to get a hold of, so it would probably be a good idea for us to choose a place to meet up."

"Come on, now, Ran. Have you been in the hospital for so long that it hurt your memory that much~?" Moca asked in a sing-song voice, a playful smirk on her lips that stopped the comment from being interpreted as insulting at best. Moca turned serious soon after she finished her question and motioned towards Tsugumi, "In Exhibit A we have… the daughter of the owners of the best café in the whole city! Is there really another choice for us~?"

"I guess not…" Ran relented after a while with a small smile, choosing to look away to give Tsugumi the impression that she had not seen her. In actuality, however, Ran had already seen the expression on Tsugumi's face and needed time to regain her composure.

"A-Anyway!" Tsugumi began, trying to put the focus of the girls on something other than herself. This worked well enough, and Tsugumi took the opportunity to let out a soft sigh of relief before turning to Ran, "Do you have any idea when Misaki-chan wants to meet us? I can tell Papa to reserve a booth for us all."

"And if Misaki-chin is involved, we probably may want something to get her to talk," Moca thought out loud, smiling slightly when she saw that Tsugumi was nodding her head in agreement, "Moca-chan has a few ideas, but what do you think Ran?"

Ran did not respond right away, instead focusing her attention on her phone as she wrapped up the message she had been typing. Not even waiting to see if Misaki would respond right away, Ran returned her phone to her pocket before finally responding to the questions, "What Okusawa-san will do is not important right now. We should focus on what we can do right now."

Moca and Tsugumi blinked a couple of times as they tried to take in what Ran had just said. Before either of them could properly respond to Ran, however, another voice managed to catch their attention.

"A-Ah!"

* * *

About two hours had passed since Ran, alongside Moca and Tsugumi, went to visit Ran's empty grave. Drained from the experience and, in Moca's case, hungrier than ever, the girls entered the Hazawa Café. The familiar clinging of a bell successfully put a smile on the girls' faces as they all inhaled the comforting smell of brewing coffee.

Tsugumi was just about done hanging up everybody's clothes when Eve ran up to the group and bowed deeply.

"Tsugumi-san! Moca-san!" Eve welcomed the two girls with a radiant smile that forced Ran to turn away for a moment. By the time Ran managed to see again, Eve had pulled out a menu from seemingly nowhere and had targeted Tsugumi as her primary target for conversation, "Tsugumi-san, I know this is rude of me to ask this so directly, but who are the other two? I do not recognize them at all."

"Right, Eve-chan may not have met them properly yet," Tsugumi thought out loud as she realized the cause of Eve's actions. As Eve nodded in confirmation, the brunette motioned to the other two girls with her as she introduced them to Eve, "Eve-chan, please meet Ran-chan and Rinko-san. They are both good friends of mine."

"My apologies for not properly greeting the two of you," Eve said quickly, making sure that she was facing both Ran and Rinko as the words left her mouth. After both Ran and Rinko had waved off Eve's words of worries, Eve turned to the group as a whole and motioned for them to follow her, "Tsugumi-san's usual spot where she sits with Moca-san is still free. Do you want to sit there?"

Both Moca and Tsugumi nodded their heads in response which caused Eve to smile. The five of them then walked to the corner of the café where a single booth was still unoccupied.

Eve quickly muttered something about needing to get more menu cards and hurried off to get them. This momentary pause allowed the four girls to sit down and start making themselves comfortable.

They were not able to start any conversation between them, however, as the very moment that Tsugumi had opened her mouth Eve had returned with more menu cards. Giving everybody one, Eve stood by them with a notepad and pen in her hand, waiting for the orders to be made.

"I'll take the same as always, please," Tsugumi said with a smile after scanning her card for a few seconds; a smile that was reciprocated by Eve who made a quick note of it. The brunette then closed her menu and waited for the other girls to make their own choices.

"Can I have… just a black coffee, please? Medium, no cream or sugar," Ran asked as she looked up from her menu. Eve nodded and the two shared a small smile when their eyes locked.

"Um… what kind of… tea do you… do you have?" a soft voice spoke from the table, something that caused both Moca and Eve to look up in shock. Tsugumi and Ran, however, seemed unfazed by this and settled on watching Eve list out the options. Rinko eventually settled for a simple milk tea with honey before she lowered her head slightly.

This only left Moca to decide on her order, but when she finally told Eve what it was she was met with a girl who was staring at her with wide eyes.

"I-I'm sorry, Moca-san, I must have misheard that. Could you please say that again?" Eve managed to barely utter the words out. Even Rinko was staring at Moca with big eyes, but both Ran and Tsugumi could be heard muttering something that sounded suspiciously like 'that girl never changed'.

In actuality, Eve knew that she had not misheard the order. She had taken Moca's orders on multiple occasions already, but she still wanted to make sure in the off chance that she had actually misheard it.

"I said, Eve-chin~," Moca began, making sure that she let Eve's name hang around in the air for as long as she could. She then held up her menu card and motioned to the whole card, "Give Moca-chan everything on this side of the card. Moca-chan's famished."

Almost as if on cue, a loud rumbling noise could be heard coming from where Moca was sitting. As Moca was chuckling sheepishly, Eve was at a loss for words and found herself turning to look at Tsugumi.

"Just give her what she asked for, Eve-chan. It's Moca-chan's responsibility to finish the food that she ordered and Moca-chan's old enough to understand that," Tsugumi said as soon as she saw the unvoiced plea of Eve. Tsugumi found herself smiling when she saw that her words had done the trick; Eve seemed a lot more composed and was now writing down something on her little notepad.

"If that is all then I will bring your orders in and they should be here momentarily," Eve announced, pocketing her notepad back in her apron and accepting the menus one by one. When she was ready, Eve made another bow and excused herself, giving the four girls their privacy.

Had the four of them hoped that they could start their conversation right away they would be disappointed. A heavy weight hung around their shoulders as every one of them was trying, and failing, to break it.

Eventually, one of them managed to gather the words to distract everyone from the tension.

"Don't get this the wrong way, Rinko-san, but you're a lot meeker now than you were back when you told me about those bracelets," Moca began as she turned to face Rinko. Ran and Tsugumi looked up at Moca, but Moca ignored them for the time being to focus on Rinko instead; because of this, Moca was able to see Rinko seemingly crawl in on herself.

'So it's true…' Moca thought to herself with a slight frown, continuing to look at the older girl in front of her. After a few seconds had passed, Moca reminded herself that she had not finished her sentence yet, "Is everything okay? Did we catch you on an off day?"

"Um, well… actually… you didn't…" Rinko's voice was barely above a whisper as is, but the fact that she had her head tilted down as she spoke did not help make her voice any clearer. After taking a deep breath to calm herself down, Rinko looked up at Moca with a shaky smile, "Would you… would Aoba-san… prefer the me of… that day instead? I can… just give me… a moment or two…"

Without saying another word or acknowledging any of the girls who sat with her, Rinko stood up from her seat and made a beeline to the toilet. The remaining three girls at the table each reacted differently to this development.

Moca was staring in the direction that Rinko had gone off in, silently wondering what was going on for Rinko to act this way. Moca, despite often showing a confident front to the world, also knew how it was like to be completely frozen on the spot so another part of her worried for Rinko. Knowing what used to push Moca into a panic attack only days ago she could only imagine what Rinko must have gone through.

Ran and Tsugumi, on the other hand, took advantage of the distraction to hold a silent conversation between the two of them. Tsugumi subtly shook her head after only a second which caused Ran to frown slightly.

"Sorry for the wait!"

The three childhood friends were brought back to the present by a familiar cheerful voice. When they looked up they saw Eve was walking up to them with a tray that held four glasses on it which she proceeded to place in front of the customers.

Quickly telling Moca that her order of an entire page was still in the process of being made and would be delivered as soon as they are ready, Eve silently excused herself.

Rinko returned not too long after Eve's departure, the short break that she had given herself had done wonders for her confidence. She was holding her head up high and did not seem like she was second-guessing every other step that she was making.

Moca smiled up at Rinko, glad to see that she recognized the air around Rinko as being the same as when the two had talked not too long ago. It did, however, force a new thought to pop up in Moca's mind.

'This Rinko and the Rinko from before… it almost seems like they were two different people…' Moca thought to herself with a slight frown, happy to see that the attention of the other three girls was not on her. Moca quickly shook her head to try and clear her mind, knowing that she could not be seen distracted now.

"My apologies about that, I needed a moment," Rinko said in an almost monotone as she pulled her chair out and made herself comfortable on it. After taking a moment to stir her drink a bit, the oldest of the four turned to the girl sitting to her right, "Anyway, where did we leave off again, Hazawa-san?"

"We didn't start talking, really. Moca-chan asked Rinko-san if she was all right and then Rinko-san left for a moment; we were about to start talking about everything Ran-chan had been through," Tsugumi explained as Ran nodded in confirmation. Before she could feel her confidence in herself seep away, the brunette added with a smile, "So how about it, Rinko-san? Are you okay with telling us a bit more about how you helped Ran-chan? Moca-chan and I are really curious."

Rinko took a moment to stare at Tsugumi with a neutral expression on her face, neither blinking nor breaking eye contact at all. Finally, after several seconds that felt like hours for Tsugumi had passed, Rinko gave Tsugumi a bit of a break to glance at the girl sitting on the other side of the table, "How much do they already know, Mitake-san?"

"Just that you are involved and the whole story about those bracelets," Ran shrugged, opting to keep her reply short to enjoy her cup of coffee. Almost instantly after taking a sip she lowered her drink and turned to Tsugumi, "Tell your father that the coffee here has gotten so much better since the last time I tried it. I know that it has been a couple of years already, but I'm still impressed."

As Tsugumi took her time to reassure Ran that she would act as the messenger between Ran and her father, Rinko took what Ran had told her and sat there silently. Her expression remained neutral enough for it to not be evident at first glance, but those who looked closer could see the ever so subtle crease of the girl's eyebrows.

"If that is the case… then what would the two of you like to know about my role in all of this? Hazawa-san? Aoba-san?" Rinko finally voiced the question after having thought of it for a while, redirecting the focus of the table back at her. Seemingly unfazed by this, Rinko decided that she should explain the reasoning behind this question of hers, "It would be easier for me to talk if I knew what the two of you wanted to know. I can save time by avoiding talking about the meaningless information and can help guide the conversation to what you two are looking for."

Moca and Tsugumi took a moment to look at each other silently. The two instantly knew what the other was thinking and a single nod between them prompted Tsugumi to turn back to Rinko.

"I understand that, Rinko-san, but Moca-chan and I want to know how much you have helped with getting us back together with Ran-chan," Tsugumi began her answer, making sure to make a conscious effort to keep her voice steady. After waiting for a few moments to watch Moca nod to show that she agreed, Tsugumi picked up right where she had left off, "We want to properly thank you after all of this is finally over…"

"That is not—"

"'Enough repayment for all your hard work to reunite a broken girl with the two people who cared about her the most'? Yeah, probably…" Moca cut in before Rinko could come anywhere close to finishing her sentence. When Rinko turned to Moca and made signs that she wanted to argue, Moca spoke again, "Rinko-san, please understand. Tsugumi and I haven't seen Ran in years. Heck, we thought that Ran had been dead for all of those years."

Rinko fell silent after that as she tried to process what both Tsugumi and Moca had told her. She was smart or at least tried to convince herself of that, and she knew that it would be a waste of both breath and time to try and argue back.

Right as Moca was about to open her mouth again to try and convince Rinko, Rinko took the opportunity to start her story.

"It does not seem like I did much at all, especially when compared to the efforts of that girl who acted as the messenger between Mitake-san and myself," Rinko began with a small smile, allowing her words to linger for a bit as she took a sip of her milk tea. After savoring the taste of her drink, Rinko focused her attention on Ran, "What was her name again? Okisawa-san?"

"Okusawa-san, actually. Okusawa Misaki."

"Ah, right. My apologies," Rinko chuckled softly while wiping her mouth on a napkin. Her features softened considerably by the time the next couple of words left her mouth, "As I was saying, I am afraid that all that I did was tell Aoba-san here about the bracelets. My only role in this was to make sure that Aoba-san knew I had the third bracelet so that Mitake-san to approach Aoba-san at a later date."

"So all that Rinko-san was involved with was stuff Tsugu and Moca-chan were already aware of?" Moca asked despite knowing the answer already. When Rinko nodded in confirmation, Moca seemingly, "That sucks… Moca-chan was sure that Rinko-san had this super big role to play. It's only natural to think that someone as amazing as Rinko-san would have!"

"T-Thank you for your praise, Aoba-san," Rinko muttered softly, trying to use her cup of milk tea to hide the red tint that started to decorate her cheeks. This effort proved to be futile, however, as the other three girls had turned to converse amongst themselves.

Rinko, for her part, did not know if she had to be relieved that they were not paying attention to her or disappointed that they had moved on so quickly.

"So Rinko-san really did not end up doing that much?" Tsugumi directed the question before realizing how she had phrased her question. Giving a quick apology to Rinko and taking a moment to ask the question again, Tsugumi wanted to say more when Moca interrupted her.

"Moca-chan would not say that Rinko-san did not do that much, actually," Moca said, not looking up as both Tsugumi and Rinko turned to her with wide eyes. Ran, who thought she might understand where Moca was taking this, smiled to herself when Moca confirmed it for her, "If it had not been for Rinko-san meeting Moca-chan and showing her bracelet to Moca-chan, Moca-chan may still think that Ran over there is an illusion or a part of Moca-chan's imagination. Or worse."

"Aoba-san…"

"Yeah, and besides… no matter how small the role, everybody who helped me get back to you and Tsugumi were part of it," Ran said with a nod before she reached down in her purse and pulled out a small gift wrapped in colorful paper. Ran slid it over to Rinko without a second thought, "If you had not helped me, I would probably not be sitting here today. I know that this is nothing compared to what you have done for me, but please accept it. It is the least I can do in return."

"Mitake-san… all right, thank you very much," Rinko tilted her head down for a moment before accepting the gift. Rinko had put her purse too far away and, in an effort to remain polite, decided to simply place the gift in her lap for now.

"There is something else I should probably say here, though," Rinko admitted after a momentary pause in the conversation. Ignoring the question that Moca had asked her, Rinko hardened her features as she faced Ran, "When I, uh… left the table earlier, I think, I saw that Okusawa-san had sent me a message. She wanted to speak with you."

"That's great news! That means that we don't need to try too hard if Misaki-chan wants to talk to us, too!" Tsugumi smiled brightly as she was happy that things seemed to be working out for once. Her smile soon faded when she saw that nobody, not even Moca, was sharing her enthusiasm, "…It's something else entirely, isn't it?"

"It is not my place to say, but I am sure that Okusawa-san will not wait too long to meet with the three of you," Rinko said with an apologetic smile. Rinko then reached for her cup but her hand missed the handle entirely. Instead of touching the cup like she had wanted to, Rinko's eyes widened before both of her hands shot up to her head and she doubled over.

Seeing this sudden change in Rinko, Tsugumi and Moca rushed over to Rinko's side in the blink of an eye.

"Rinko-san!"

"What's wrong?!"

Despite their efforts, neither Tsugumi nor Moca were able to get through to Rinko at all. By the time that Ran had reached them and helped Rinko sit back down, the oldest of the four seemed to be in a lot of pain but was able to contain it better.

Moca and Tsugumi remained by Rinko's side until her breathing had evened out and they were sure that she had calmed down enough. When Rinko finally raised her head again after several minutes had passed, she had lost every hint of self-confidence that she had displayed earlier. Instead, with the way she was hunched over and nervously looking around her, she more resembled the Rinko who they entered the café with than the one they had been talking with.

"S-Sorry… about that…" Rinko murmured under her breath, her voice slightly overpowered by the sound of the girl's panting. Realizing how bad of a shape she was, Rinko threw a couple bills on the table, grabbed her belongings and bowed to the three childhood friends, "I-I am sorry, but… I have to go. It was… nice meeting you… all again."

Before anyone could do or say anything in response, Rinko turned around and sprinted out of the café. The silence that lingered at the table was finally broken when Moca spoke up minutes later.

"How loaded do you two think Rinko-san is if she thinks she needs to pay this much for a simple cup of milk tea?" Moca asked as she eyed the bills that Rinko had left behind. One of those bills was more than enough to cover for all of their orders that day and Moca was busy raising one into the light to see if it was fake.

"Moca-chan!"

"Moca-chan is just saying," Moca said with a nonchalant shrug, throwing the bill back on the pile before she frowned, "Besides, if Tsugu wants to be mad at someone then why not be mad at Ran?"

"You know that I have already forgiven Ran-chan for the last three years," Tsugumi responded with a slight frown on her face. The brunette wanted to tell Moca off some more when Moca raised a hand to stop her.

"That wasn't what I was talking about," Moca said calmly, inwardly smiling at herself when she saw Tsugumi's reaction to her words. Moca could not savor this reaction for long as she knew that she had to focus on the problem at hand, "Ran, why did you not try to help Rinko-san just now?"

"Because what Rinko-san was experiencing is something that none of us are able to help her with, at least until we have taken care of ourselves," Ran did not even seem fazed when Moca had turned towards her, and it was even as if Ran had already prepared her response ahead of time. As soon as Ran had finished talking, she took a deep breath before she picked right back up where she had left off, "We're all facing our own fights. Mochan and Tsugumi had to struggle without me for so long, I had to adapt to my legs, so what's to say that Rinko-san doesn't have her own sets of obstacles herself?"

Ran took the opportunity to enjoy her drink some more, knowing that Moca and Tsugumi were both smart enough to understand her words. Moca was taking the opportunity to try and pick away at her slice of cake that had arrived soon after Rinko left, suddenly finding herself without an appetite despite knowing she would need to finish twenty more slices. Tsugumi, similarly, was staring at her stack of strawberry pancakes with an empty look in her eyes.

"Can Ran contact Misaki-chin so we can talk with her?" Moca asked her childhood friend despite knowing that Ran had already tried. Moca looked up in time to see Ran was already digging through her purse for her device, putting a smile on Moca's face in the process.

"Before we can go meet with Okusawa-san, however…" Ran trailed off, prompting both Moca and Tsugumi to look at her expectantly. When Ran finally looked up and spoke again, it was not to look at either of her childhood friends, "It seems like we will be meeting someone else before that."

Moca blinked at that, trying to figure out what Ran was talking about. When Moca saw that a shadow had approached their table, she turned around and looked at the newcomer.

A tall young woman stood there with a grin, her arms crossed in front of her chest as she looked down at the three childhood friends.

* * *

 **And that wraps up today's chapter! Hm, okay, so… there may or may not be some slight deviations with the original plan for the story, but it is still heading in a similar direction, so… let's see how this change affects the story as a whole, shall we?**

 **I hope that you all enjoyed today's chapter, please leave a review telling me what you thought, and until next month! Take care!**


	15. Return to Where it Began

**All right, here we go! Picking up right where we left off last time!**

 **Before we continue, I want to take this moment to thank my loyal reviewers who reviewed the last chapter. In addition to that, a special round of thank you goes to my beta, LightZephyr.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own BanG Dream! Girls Band Party nor do I, in any way, shape or form, intend to pretend that I do.**

* * *

 _"It seems like we will be meeting someone else before that."_

 _Moca blinked at that, trying to figure out what Ran was talking about. When Moca saw that a shadow had approached their table, she turned around and looked at the newcomer._

 _A tall young woman stood there with a grin, her arms crossed in front of her chest as she looked down at the three childhood friends._

"Isn't that—?!" Tsugumi exclaimed as she pushed herself off her chair and turned herself fully towards the redhead with an excited glint in her eyes. She was stopped from saying anything else when she was pulled in a tight embrace.

"Good to see you again, Tsugu!" Tomoe grinned, finally letting go of the brunette when she felt her struggling for air. Tomoe then noticed the other two girls sitting at the table and waved at Moca before turning to Ran with hints of a subtle frown, "I know Moca over there but, uh… don't take this the wrong way, but who are you exactly?"

"I could say the same to you, but if these two know you then you can't be that bad," Ran replied without skipping a beat. Ignoring both the chuckle coming from Moca's direction and Tsugumi's pleas to be politer, Ran looked up at the taller girl and allowed a smile to form on her lips, "Ran. Mitake Ran. I'm a childhood friend of these two."

"So you're the Ran I have been hearing so much about!" Tomoe exclaimed with a bright shine in her eyes that had not been there when she greeted either Tsugumi or Moca before. Tomoe then held out her hand in offering, something that Ran was not too slow about accepting, "My name is Udagawa Tomoe. It's nice to finally meet you!"

'Udagawa Tomoe?' Ran made sure that she did not outwardly show it to anyone, especially not to the redhead standing in front of her, but Ran's mind was working at a rapid pace. Thankfully for her, she was not distracted enough to forget to shake Tomoe's hand in return, "While I can't say that I have been looking forward to meeting you as neither Mochan nor Tsugumi have had the chance to tell me about you yet, it is nice to meet a friend of theirs."

With the pleasantries out of the way, Tomoe asked if the fourth seat was empty. This was a question that Moca was only too happy to answer and the four of them sat back down again. When Tomoe realized the looks that she was getting from Moca, she quickly reassured her that she had already given Eve her order and had decided to come to Moca's table when she recognized Moca and Tsugumi there.

"If you don't mind me asking, Tomoe-chan, what are you doing here?" Tsugumi asked the moment that Tomoe had sat down and made herself comfortable, "I heard from Himari-chan that you were supposed to be meeting with the instructor of your internship today."

"Tomato-chin finally got her internship working out, eh~?"

"Yes, and stop calling me that!" Tomoe added that last bit with a bit more power in her voice, but the way the corners of her mouth were creeping upwards Moca knew that there was no true malice in Tomoe's words. Didn't save Moca from getting lightly shoved in the shoulder shortly after, though.

"Anyway, yeah, I finally found an internship and I should start later today! I'm really excited!" Tomoe was shaking in excitement as she explained what she had been up to. The redhead had to put her speech on hold for a bit as Eve took that opportunity to bring Tomoe a cup of coffee.

Tomoe thanked Eve, took a small sip of her coffee and then turned to Tsugumi, "So, Tsugu, Moca, what have the two of you been up to? And can you introduce your friend here some more for me?"

As soon as Tomoe's words left the redhead's mouth she knew that she had touched a sore spot. Moca and Tsugumi had both turned to each other and were having a silent conversation; one that Tomoe could only guess was about what they should do in response to Tomoe's questions.

The fourth girl at the table, on the other hand, had her chin resting in her hand as she stared out the window. When Tomoe looked at her moments ago she seemed to simply be daydreaming, but upon closer inspection, Tomoe could see that Ran was deep in thoughts.

Tomoe was about to reassure them that she did not need to know if it was too personal, but she never got the chance to do so.

"Well, I suppose we might as well… she's a friend of yours, right, Mochan?" Ran asked Moca who nodded her head silently in confirmation. Ran sighed when she saw this, but nobody knew if it was out of exhaustion or resignation, before she turned back to Tomoe, "To tell you the truth…"

* * *

'That was… interesting…' Ran thought to herself as she walked through the streets with Moca and Tsugumi on either side of her. Her friends were talking about a new manga series that had recently come out, something that Ran was trying to zone out from.

After taking the time to get Tomoe up to date with what they were doing, the three childhood friends decided to take a stroll through the city. They told themselves that it was to kill off time until Misaki would get back to them, but they all knew better.

The real reason they wanted to walk down this street was slowly but surely starting to come into view.

"It sure has been a while since we've all been here together, hasn't it? Ran-chan? Moca-chan?" Tsugumi's voice brought Ran back to the present and made her pay attention to where she was. Much to Ran's relief, Ran noticed that Moca was somewhat flustered when she realized where they were as well. Unfortunately for Ran, she knew that she could not make fun of this discovery the moment when Tsugumi noticed it too, "How are you feeling, Moca-chan?"

"I can… keep going, I think," Moca said slowly, her hand only now dropping down from where it was holding on to her head. Waving off the words of worry from Tsugumi, Moca added, "It's been much too long, and besides… I think all of us are curious…"

"You got me there, Mochan," Ran smiled, nodding silently in Tsugumi's direction before walking ahead a bit. With her hands clasped together behind her back, Ran allowed her next few thoughts to be voiced for all to hear, "I haven't gone back there yet, either… and I am sure that it can do us all good to see it. It can help give us the closure and allow us to move on for sure."

Neither Moca nor Tsugumi responded to Ran's words, but Ran did not need to hear their voices to know how they felt. The very fact that they were still following her down this path was answer enough for Ran.

The conversation soon died out after that and the three childhood friends took the opportunity to look around them. They did this not only to make sure that they were going the right way but also in order to remind themselves how things were like years ago. Flashes of memories popped up in their mind as they saw their younger selves run through the streets, Moca stand up to an adult male who had run into Ran, and the three of them sitting on a bench together in the summer sun while enjoying their ice cream.

Much too soon for them, they had reached a familiar intersection, and it was Ran who walked into the familiar street first. What she saw in front of her made her stop mid-stride and look up with wide eyes.

In front of Ran was the Mitake household… or what remained of it, anyway. A blackened, charred area of land was all that told the world of the tragedy that befell it three years prior. The cold breeze picked up a handful of the ashes from the ground and carried them into the distance, leaving Ran to watch silently.

Ran's brain barely registered the dull sound of metal hitting pavement.

"Ran-chan!"

Tsugumi and Moca both stepped up to either of Ran's sides, helping the girl back up to her feet. Ran seemed to be a little wobbly afterward but she seemed to be able to stand on her own.

"Shall we… find some place to sit down or something?" Moca asked, glancing at Ran and noticing just how pale she looked. Tsugumi nodded in agreement and, along with Moca, helped Ran drag herself over to a nearby café.

As soon as they were inside, Tsugumi mentioned something about looking for a waiter to make their orders which left Moca to assist Ran in finding a table to sit. Fortunately for them, it appeared like they arrived at a quiet time as a lot of the tables were still unoccupied.

Moca found a quiet and secluded table beside a window, helped Ran sit down on one of the chairs and looked around herself. She didn't get the chance to see the interior of the café when she helped Ran inside so Moca was curious how this café fared in comparison to the Hazawa or Ruru cafés.

And Moca had to admit that she was impressed with what she saw.

The interior of the café had a lot of space and it had a high ceiling on top of that. The wooden furniture almost seemed to shine from within; a shine that was bright enough to temporarily blind Moca when she looked at them for too long. By the entrance stood two life-size statues of people Moca could only assume were the founders of the café.

Moca was about to check out one of the corridors that had caught her eye when she saw Tsugumi walk up to them with a girl who was about Tsugumi's height. She had short lilac-colored hair that was long enough to cover up her right eye and she seemed to be in some sort of discussion with Tsugumi.

"Sorry for taking so long, Moca-chan, Ran-chan," Tsugumi said as she sat down on one of the unoccupied seats. She was holding two menu cards and handed one of them over to Ran when the girl with the lilac-colored hair offered Moca one herself, "I think I am just going to have… some fresh orange juice, please."

"I'll have an ice tea," Moca noted after taking a quick glance at the menu and deciding against hurting her wallet any more than she already has. After she placed the menu she was holding on top of Tsugumi's, Moca turned to Ran, "And what will you have, Ran?"

Ran had yet to place her order and was still frowning at the menu herself. Seemingly unable to make up her mind, Ran placed her menu down and sighed, "I'll have what Tsugumi is having."

"So that will be two orange juices and an ice tea," the waitress read out loud to make sure that she had gotten the order right. Her words elicited a small nod from Tsugumi in response which caused a smile to form on the waitress' lips. After picking up two of the three menus, insisting that the childhood friends keep one in case they wanted to order something else later, excused herself.

Ran did not waste any time to ask the question that had been on her mind; the moment that the waitress was no longer within hearing distance, Ran turned to both her friends.

Moca flinched at the question and even Tsugumi was seemingly caught by surprise by it. Both girls knew that it was perfectly reasonable for Ran to ask it now, but neither of them had been ready for the question to be asked now.

Eventually, one of the two took a deep breath and then raised her head.

"Well… I am sure that it can't be easy on any of us, right?" Tsugumi asked with uncertainty tainting her quivering voice. The brunette glanced around to see the looks on Ran's and Moca's faces and nodded once before adding, "I mean… we've all been kind of avoiding this place."

"Excuse me."

Tsugumi and Ran both froze at the newcomer's voice, but Moca managed to control herself well enough to look up and smile, "Yes?"

"Sorry, I really did not mean to eavesdrop or anything, but I was nearby and it is pretty quiet here…" the waitress bowed with an apologetic smile on her face. As she straightened her back again, she took a moment to place the glasses in front of the girl who ordered the respective drinks.

"Moca-chan is sure that neither Tsugu nor Ran is against answering a question or two, right?" Moca smiled, adding the last word while eyeing her friends carefully. When she did not pick up any sign that either of them was going to argue against her, Moca turned back to the anxious waitress, "Was there anything in particular you wanted to ask us?"

"There was one thing, yes," the waitress confirmed with a small but ecstatic nod of the head, "You were talking about avoiding this place. Did, um… did something happen here?"

"I guess I might as well say it. No, Tsugumi, it is all right," Ran stopped Tsugumi from stopping her when she saw the brunette was about to jump in. Ran let out a sigh, releasing what remained of her hesitation as her eyes were devoid of it when Ran looked back up again, "My name is Ran. Mitake Ran."

A prolonged period of silence followed in which nobody moved a muscle. Moca and Tsugumi were both looking down at the swirling surfaces of their drinks, Ran tried to maintain eye contact with the younger girl in front of her and the waitress was staring back at Ran with her mouth slightly agape. She was trying so hard to process what she had just been told and why that name should have been a proper answer.

And then, like a lamp that had its switch flipped on, the waitress pieced everything together.

"Oh my god, that was you?!"

"I can't be completely sure as you didn't tell me what I was—," Ran began and managed to pick up on the smirk tugging at Moca's lips. With the threat of a smirk now affecting her as well, Ran had to pick up where she had left off and quick, "But I can already guess what you were wanting to say; in which case, yes, I am _that_ Mitake Ran."

"I… am so sorry, Mitake-san," the waitress made a point to apologize profusely with animated gestures. Seemingly not hearing Ran's words, the waitress continued, "It was insensitive of me to pry in one of our customer's private and personal life and—"

"I said that I don't mind, it's okay," Ran raised her voice this time in the hopes that she would be able to get through to the waitress. Satisfied to see that she had achieved her goal, Ran was about to turn back to her friends when she second-guessed her decision, "Actually… it is bothering me, and I think you might be able to help me."

"I can?"

The waitress looked at Ran with confusion etched into her face, but she was not the only one. Both Moca and Tsugumi were caught off guard by this development and were now watching the conversation curiously.

"The thing is… I can't quite remember what happened after that day, and… that's really annoying," Ran picked up where she had left off but had her attention on something else. Ran was looking out the window by her side, in the direction of her old house, and would have kept looking if she had all the freedom to do so.

"Since you work here, I thought that perhaps you could answer something for me," Ran turned to the waitress and offered her a smile. At the same time, Ran made a conscious effort to avoid looking at either of the girls she came here with, "I am sure you already know what happened here three years ago, but do you also know what happened after that?"

"I have actually only started working here for two weeks, so I don't know much. I just know the basic story of what happened," the waitress said with an apologetic smile. When she saw Ran visibly deflate upon hearing this, she raked her brain for a way to make it up to her, "B-But I think I know someone who might know more. I can go and get her for you if you want."

"That would be great, thank you," Ran nodded and the waitress bowed in response. As soon as the waitress had rushed off, Ran let out a sigh and turned back to her friends with a playfully annoyed glare, "It would have gone easier for me without your reactions, you two know that, right?"

"That was mean of you, Ran-chan!" Tsugumi scolded the older girl at the same moment when Moca began roaring with laughter. Ran simply shrugged at both of their reactions which only seemed to increase Tsugumi's ire, "The three of us could have very well found out ourselves, there was no need to guilt trip that poor girl."

"Maybe you're right, but if this saves us hours of searching then it would have been worth it," Ran noted as she picked up her glass. Then, with a slight smirk, she added, "Besides, it seems like Mochan would have done the same thing."

"Moca-chan would have, yeah," Moca, who needed to take a few seconds to control her laughter, admitted sheepishly as she wiped the corners of her eyes. She sobered quickly, however, and tried to imitate Tsugumi; Moca's glare was a lot more lighthearted than the brunette's was, though, "But Ran doing something like that… Ran sure has changed, hasn't she~? Huh, Ran~?"

Ran had already opened her mouth to try and respond to Moca in kind, but the waitress chose that moment to walk up to them. She was escorting another young woman, one who seemed closer in age to that of the childhood friends, and bowed deeply when she arrived at their table.

"Sorry for taking so long, but may I please introduce to you the person I told you about earlier," the waitress said as she motioned to the person standing by her side. With a bright, radiant smile, she picked up where she had left off, "This is Minato Yukina-senpai."

"It has been a while, has it not? Aoba-san? Hazawa-san?" the other girl said as she addressed both Moca and Tsugumi with a slight dip of her head. Her eyes then landed on the third seated patron, but the only emotion that leaked out was recognition when Yukina's eyes narrowed ever so slightly, "And Mitake-san as well."

Moca and Tsugumi did not respond to Yukina's greeting in kind, but Ran was only too happy to stand up and offer her hand, "I don't believe we have met yet. I don't recall someone named 'Minato Yukina' in my life."

Sparks flew as Ran and Yukina glared at each other, silently daring the other to break away first. Moca was standing behind Ran, making weird faces in the hopes of breaking Yukina's concentration and composure. The waitress was quick to understand the situation and silently rushed off as fast as she could. And Tsugumi?

"Ran-chan!"

"All right all right," Ran sat back down but kept her gaze locked on the older girl who was still standing in front of her, "Let's not waste any time. Why are you here, Minato-san?"

"I would ask you the same thing but the answer would have been obvious," Yukina noted the stiff nods of the other girls around her. With a soft sigh, Yukina pulled up a chair from a neighboring table, sat down on it and closed her eyes, "But before I answer your question, Mitake-san, there seems to be something one of your friends is dying to say to my face. So why do we not start from there and get it over with, Aoba-san?"

"That's right I do," Moca said as she pointed an accusatory finger in Yukina's direction, ignoring the pleas from Tsugumi to control herself. With a glare that rivaled Ran's in intensity, Moca focused her anger towards the older girl, "We've been over this, you already told me that you only knew what happened and who caused it, and now—."

"Back when we discussed this, neither of us knew that Mitake-san made it out of that inferno alive," Yukina interjected, seeing much to her pleasure that Moca had lowered her hand, if only slightly. Not wasting another moment, Yukina lowered her head as she whispered the next couple of words, "And more than just that… I have a debt I can never pay back… so please, Aoba-san, at least let me try this much for you and your friends."

If Moca did not flinch enough at the sight of the proud Minato Yukina lowering her head to her, Moca definitely reeled back her anger when that droplet hit the table's surface and splattered into a million pieces. Tsugumi saw the opening that she needed and used it to place a gentle hand on Moca's shoulder.

"Let's at least hear what Yukina-senpai has to say, okay, Moca-chan?" Tsugumi offered with a kind smile that hid the brunette's real intentions. Moca, after suppressing the chill running down her spine, relented at the same time when Tsugumi turned to look at Ran, "You are okay with this as well, right, Ran-chan?"

"I would rather be watching paint dry, but I suppose it can be worth the shot," Ran added the second bit after noticing the look that she was getting. Shrugging it off, Ran looked up to address Yukina directly, "Do keep in mind, Minato-san… Mochan has already told Tsugumi and me what you told her, and I am still wary of everything that you might say."

"I understand," Yukina nodded, not backing down from Ran's stare. After several painfully long seconds passed, Yukina finally broke the staring contest, "In that case, I will skip over the introductions and go straight to the point. As Aoba-san would have informed the two of you already, that day… it was not an accident. Somebody set it up and—"

"I thought you said that you would _skip_ over the introductions, Minato-san," Ran noted with an annoyed grunt, interrupting the older girl in the process. Moca shared Ran's annoyance and while Tsugumi seemed conflicted, wanting desperately to avoid a commotion, she made no move to try and stop Ran, either.

"Very well, my apologies," Yukina nodded once before she looked out the window. The three childhood friends followed Yukina's gaze and saw that she was looking in the direction where the Mitake household used to be.

"You want to know what happened to your parents and what happened to the remnants of your old house, do you not, Mitake-san?" Yukina asked in a soft and controlled voice, directing Ran's attention back to her. With a small, sad sigh, Yukina spoke again, "I am afraid that your parents did not make it very long. They were rushed to the hospital on the same day as you were, but due to their injuries…"

Yukina did not finish her sentence, but in actuality, she never needed to. Everybody sitting at the table knew how the sentence would have ended and they were all taking it in different ways.

Moca's face hardened considerably and she looked off into the distance. Tsugumi had buried her face in her hands and was trembling. And Ran had her hands balled up into fists as she audibly gritted her teeth.

Yukina gave the three of them some time to process this before she broke the silence again. This time, however, she managed to sound significantly more confident.

"As for your house, Mitake-san," Yukina began, her words shaking the three childhood friends back to reality. When Yukina knew that she had their attention yet again, she offered Ran a sad smile, "It was deemed a hazard by the local authorities and they had to completely demolish what remained of it."

"But why leave the land open? Couldn't they have built something or at least covered it up?" Tsugumi asked Yukina, unable to suppress her curiosity and concern. It was not Yukina who ended up giving the brunette an answer.

"They are not allowed to do that yet, are they, Minato-san?" Moca watched Yukina's expression closely as she spoke, trying to pick up any hints that she may have been mistaken. When Yukina did not make any attempts to try and correct Moca's words, Moca turned to Tsugumi, "That land was— _is_ owned by the Mitakes. Ran's parents may… not be here anymore, but Ran is alive and well, so that land belongs to her."

"Until I decide that I do not want it anymore," Ran let out a deep sigh as she spoke, not completely oblivious to the reactions of the others around her as she said these words. In an effort to change the topic, if only slightly, Ran asked, "Minato-san, you said that that day was not an accident, right? I know Mochan told Tsugumi and I that somebody set it up but do you know who that is?"

"I do, but why has Aoba-san not told either of you yet?" Yukina eyed Moca accusingly, recalling the conversation the two of them had not too long ago. Not one to stop just there, Yukina pressed on, "If my memory serves, Aoba-san has already known about this for several days, if it has not been a week yet."

"There really wasn't a good time for me to tell these two who you think did it. And now that you are here, I don't need to, right?"

Yukina maintained her glare for only three seconds before she accepted defeat. Letting out a sigh, she steeled herself for what she was about to say. Yukina raised her head and muttered two words.

The reaction that these words caused was immediate. Both Ran and Tsugumi froze up instantly as soon as Yukina had informed them. Even Moca, despite knowing the name already, could not stop herself from stiffening up in her seat.

Yukina waited several moments to allow the younger girls to think over what they had just been told. She could even afford to take a bit of a break from the conversation by taking a sip from her own cup before the silence was ultimately broken once again.

"Are you… sure?"

Yukina looked up and made sure to keep her expression as neutral as she possibly could. She looked at all three girls in front of her and noted that the two who remained silent were asking her the same question.

"Unfortunately, I am," Yukina said with a resigned sigh, needing to remind herself that she had already promised to be direct. With this in mind, she did not waste another second, "At the same time, I am also in part to blame. I was there, I saw it, I could have done something… but I didn't…"

"Again, I am… so sorry, Mitake-san."

"Forget it, Minato-san."

Yukina turned her head so fast that her neck cracked as a result. She managed to push back her cry of discomfort to ask Ran a single question.

"It should have been obvious, shouldn't it, Minato-san?" Ran decided to answer Yukina's question with a question of her own. Although Ran was enjoying the reaction she was able to squeeze out of her former senior in high school, she knew that she should get to the point quickly. Ran demanded Yukina to be direct so she knew she had to respond in kind.

"Minato-san probably would not have been able to stop that person if she tried," Ran picked up with hints of a small smile on her face. Feeling the encouraging hand of Tsugumi on her shoulder, Ran continued, "What happened three years ago has happened and nothing we do can change that. All we can do is gather the pieces again and try to make amends; isn't that what you are trying to do right now, Minato-san?"

Yukina blinked a couple of times after hearing Ran's words, trying to find a way to dispute that statement. Much to her surprise, she found that she could not.

"I… guess you are right…" Yukina finally admitted, eliciting a smile from Ran as a result. Not wanting to show her composure breaking in front of Moca again, Yukina stood up from her seat and addressed all three girls in front of her, "If there is anything else I can do for any of you, please do not hesitate."

"We won't. Thank you, Yukina-senpai," Tsugumi answered for her childhood friends' sake, a bright smile on her face. Ran and Moca both nodded to show that they felt the same way as Tsugumi did.

The four of them proceeded to say their goodbyes as Yukina noted how long she had been sitting with them. Once Yukina had left them alone again, Moca, Ran, and Tsugumi were about to enjoy the rest of their drinks.

They would have if one of them did not see her phone light up at that very moment.

Ran grabbed her phone and read the new message she had received. She was vaguely aware of the looks that Moca and Tsugumi had as they watched. Finally, after what could have been hours of the three of them sitting there in silence, Ran lowered her phone again.

"Well?" Moca probed as soon as she saw the opening. Moca was tired of waiting and she was not alone in this; Tsugumi was visibly anxious to hear more, too.

Unfortunately for Moca and Tsugumi, Ran did not respond right away. After a handful of false starts and rethinking her choice of words, Ran let out a deep sigh before passing her phone over to her friends.

As Tsugumi gingerly picked up the device to see what was going on, Ran started to slump down in her seat.

"It is Okusawa-san."

* * *

 **And that wraps up today's chapter! I hope you all enjoyed it, thank you for your time and patience, and please leave a review telling me what you thought! Until next time, take care!**


	16. The Confrontation

**All right, here we are with the next chapter, pushed forward by a week from its expected release date due to a medical visit I have to go to next week (at the time of posting this chapter). It… shouldn't be _too_ bad, but in case this story gets put on a bit of a hiatus you know why…**

 **A special thank you to the reviewers of the last chapter. In addition to that, I also want to say thank you to my beta reader for this chapter: LightZephyr. Doubly so since I selfishly pushed the chapter's update date forward by a week.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own BanG Dream! Girls Band Party nor do I, in any way, shape or form, intend to pretend that I do.**

* * *

 _Unfortunately for Moca and Tsugumi, Ran did not respond right away. After a handful of false starts and rethinking her choice of words, Ran let out a deep sigh before passing her phone over to her friends._

 _As Tsugumi gingerly picked up the device to see what was going on, Ran started to slump down in her seat._

 _"It is Okusawa-san."_

The moment that Ran had informed her friends who had just contacted her, she knew that she had their full attention. This was it, the moment they had all been waiting for. Ran was trembling, unable to contain the energy that threatened to boil over, as this realization dawned on her.

With them having already met and talked to Rinko only hours ago and Yukina just now, Misaki would be the third and the last person to meet on the same day. Ran knew that Moca and Tsugumi needed this to be able to properly hear Misaki's side of the story as well. This was not the only reason why Ran was looking forward to seeing Misaki again, however.

Much like Yukina admitted to earlier, Ran knew that she had a big debt. A debt to Okusawa Misaki that she needed to pay back in any way that she could. And she was determined to return the favor, no matter what happened or how hard she would need to convince Misaki.

But these feelings quickly dissipated to make room for a new feeling.

"Excuse me for a bit," Ran muttered quickly before she stood up and hurried off. She left so fast that Moca and Tsugumi barely even recognized that Ran had left. Moca watched Ran run away with an amused look on her face, but decided against commenting on Ran's tendency to turn tail.

Instead of making fun of one of her childhood friends, Moca turned to look at Tsugumi as Ran's figure disappeared in the direction that the toilets were.

"What do you think? We've had a long a day already meeting Rinko-san and Minato-san like that, so I am sure that nobody will hold it against you if you can't do a third today," Moca reasoned as she recalled the earlier conversations they had. Noticing Tsugumi's change in expression, Moca decided against waiting for too long, "On the other hand, this might be the only chance we get to speak with Misaki-chin. Is Tsugumi… going to be okay?"

As the words left Moca's words, the brunette started to slump down in her chair. It was not a sudden drop, but rather as if somebody had blown a balloon and slowly let the air that was trapped inside escape.

Tsugumi's cheeks grew devoid of color while her eyes glazed over and became distant. Before long, the only part of Tsugumi that was visible from the other side of the table were some strands of hair on the top of her head sticking up out of place.

Moca waited a handful of seconds before she decided to lightly shake her friend's shoulder. This gentle nudge did its job: Tsugumi bolted back up and, like a pile of snow in the face of the rising early-spring sun, seemed to be unaffected by her earlier change.

"I… I'll be fine, Moca-chan," Tsugumi smiled while giving Moca her response, trying her hardest to reassure the older girl. Tsugumi did not need a lot of time to realize that it was not working and that she needed to take a different approach, "Besides… Moca-chan is right… this could be our first and last chance. I… will never forgive myself if…"

Tsugumi stopped talking in favor of taking a sip of her drink, an action that seemed to help her feel better. As the color started to gradually return to Tsugumi's cheeks, Moca stood up and gathered her belongings. This caught Tsugumi's attention and she allowed her curiosity to get the better of her.

"I'm getting ready to head out to Misaki-chin's, of course," Moca said when she was ready to leave and nodded to something on Tsugumi's other side. The brunette turned around and saw that Ran had not only rejoined them again but had followed Moca's lead.

Seeing that her two friends were both waiting for her was all the confirmation that Tsugumi needed. She stood up, dusted off her pants and nodded in both Moca's and Ran's direction.

"Let's go meet Misaki-chan!"

* * *

Almost half an hour had passed since the three childhood friends left the café to get to the meeting place that Misaki had chosen. The four former classmates in high school were seated, albeit somewhat uncomfortably so, in Misaki's apartment. It was clear to Moca, Ran, and Tsugumi that whoever designed the apartment had done so without considering the possibility of visitors. Or, at the very least, for several visitors at the same time.

"Sorry that we ended up going to your place for this, Misaki-chan," Tsugumi had apologized the moment she noticed how cramped the space would be with the four of them. Seemingly unsatisfied with her apology, Tsugumi quickly added, "Papa called me at the last moment to say that the café was completely full and there wouldn't be any room for us."

"Not like there is any room for us here…" Misaki mumbled under her breath in response after letting the three visitors inside. It was unclear whether or not she tried to keep her words a secret from her guests, however; all three of them could hear Misaki's words loud and clear. All of them knew better than to comment on Misaki's words and risk her wrath, which in turn prompted them to instead remain silent and follow Misaki inside.

Despite her better judgment, Moca could not help but look around at the interior of her former classmate's apartment. The most obvious thing that Moca managed to notice right away was that the apartment was on the small side. By Moca's estimations, Misaki's apartment was only about sixty percent the size of Moca's, and this would have led to the apartment feeling cramped.

The apartment managed to avoid this feeling altogether by being fairly barren and devoid of vibrant and exotic decorations. Even what little furniture Misaki had placed, which consisted of a small dining table with a couple of wooden chairs, had a dull greyish white color to them. As a matter of fact, the only piece of decoration that Moca could see was an abstract painting that Misaki had hung by the door. If Moca did not know any better she would have thought that Misaki had only recently moved in.

Moca was brought back to the present when the sound of thunder was accompanied by a high-pitched scream.

"That's the other reason why we ended up asking if we could come here," Ran explained for her friends as Moca tried to calm Tsugumi back down. With a sigh that was drowned out by the rain hammering down on the roof, Ran picked up where she had left off, "I can't ask much more from you after everything you have done for us, Okusawa-san, but I think that you can understand why we are here. And why these two want to talk with you."

"Of course I do, I honestly expected to hear back from you sooner. What, did the great Mitake-san run away again before she gathered her courage to reach out to me?" Misaki asked, not skipping a beat to take a jab at Ran's pride. Seeing the change in Ran's expression was enough motivation for Misaki to hold her hands up in defeat, "Sheesh, Mitake-san, I'm just kidding. So, what do your friends want to know?"

"Everything."

Misaki knew what kind of an answer to her question she should have expected; Misaki had been preparing ever since the day she had guided Moca to where Rinko was. She knew that she was ready, but somehow hearing that single word still succeeded in catching her by surprise. Misaki looked at the girl who had said those words and, when she saw that she had not misheard, cleared her throat before coming up with a response.

"…you know that 'everything' is a lot, right?" Misaki asked slowly as she carefully eyed the three visitors one by one. Before anybody else could say anything, Misaki added, "I mean, looking at the weather I am sure the three of you will stay here for a while so we'll probably have the time. Is there anything in particular you want me to start with?"

"We know that you played a big part in getting us back together with Ran. From being the link between Ran and Rinko-san to getting Moca-chan to meet Rinko-san," Moca began, turning to look at Tsugumi to wait for a sign to show that the brunette agreed with her. When Tsugumi eventually nodded stiffly, still periodically looking out the window with wide eyes, Moca turned back to Misaki, "Tsugu and I basically want to know everything you have done for Ran so we know how much we owe—"

"Let me stop you right there first, Aoba-san," Misaki held up her hand in front of Moca's face, an action that was so sudden that it caused Moca to almost fall out of her chair. With the hints of a smirk tugging at Misaki's lips, she lowered her hand and started talking in a melancholic, almost somber voice, "Mitake-san was the one affected most by that fire three years ago, but she was not the only one."

The room fell silent as Misaki's words lingered in the air, nobody made a move to break the resulting tension. The three visitors were all taking in what Misaki had said in their own unique ways. They knew what Misaki must have gone through, Ran especially, but to actually hear it from the girl in question was a whole different thing.

Misaki, on the other hand, was gripping her left upper arm with her right hand and gritting her teeth. She could feel the back of her eyes start to sting and burn and her breath got stuck in her throat. Knowing that she would lose her composure otherwise, Misaki stood up from her seat and walked away.

When Misaki came back a couple of minutes later with a tray of drinks and a pair of damp cheeks, Moca, Ran, and Tsugumi were seemingly starting to calm down themselves. As soon as she heard Misaki place the cups on the table, Tsugumi looked up at Misaki and asked in a shaky voice, "…How bad?"

Misaki did not respond right away to Tsugumi's question. Instead, she was very focused on making sure that everybody's drink was placed neatly in front of them. Misaki had even gone up to push the cups around when she felt that they were misplaced by even a millimeter.

But even she knew that she could not keep stalling forever. When she knew that she could not delay her response any longer, Misaki took a deep breath before exhaling that same breath with as much exaggeration.

"I… would rather not talk about what happened to me on that day, Hazawa-san. That is not the issue right now," Misaki muttered through gritted teeth, her eyes downcast and foggy. Misaki had her hands clasped together and was resting her forehead against them, causing her words to be slightly unclear as a result, "If you want to know why I helped Mitake-san—"

"It's because you weren't able to save her?"

Misaki's eyes widened in alarm when the words reached her ears. She could barely hear Moca and Ran reprimand Tsugumi for her thoughtless words; Misaki's mind was focused on something else entirely as the brunette's words echoed in her mind.

* * *

 _It was a bright late-spring morning and Misaki was walking down the streets with a bored, almost annoyed-looking expression on her face. At least, that was what passersby might have mistaken her expression as; in actuality, Misaki was enjoying herself. Or as much as a fourteen-year-old girl could be enjoying herself after having being kicked out of the house to run an errand._

 _"Onee-chan! It's over here, right?"_

 _Misaki was brought back to reality by the voice of a small girl. The girl in question was quite a bit smaller than Misaki was and had slightly lighter-colored hair than Misaki did, but aside from those minor differences, she could very well pose as a mini Misaki._

 _When she did not receive a response right away, Misaki's little sister began tugging at Misaki's sleeve to try and grab the older girl's attention. An action that ultimately did succeed, but it also caused Misaki's mood to drop slightly._

 _"Let's see…" Misaki trailed off as she dug her hands deeper into the pockets of her hoodie. Her fingers eventually found what she was looking for when they curled around a folded piece of paper. Misaki smoothened it out and read the address that was written in cerulean-colored ink. As she did this, the older of the Okusawa sisters was looking between the building in front of her and at the paper to make sure that they matched._

 _When Misaki was sure that she was at the right place, she nodded with a small smile._

 _"All right!"_

 _Misaki smiled at how enthusiastic her sister was, the younger girl always seemed to have boundless energy no matter where she was or how late it got. Misaki, who had gone through her fourth consecutive sleepless night already, could only wish that she could have a fraction of her sister's energy and spirit._

 _"Onee-chan?"_

 _Hearing her sister's voice was enough stimulation for Misaki to shake her head and focus back on what she was doing. Outside, on a late-spring morning, on an errand with her younger sister._

 _Realizing that the younger girl had something else on her mind, Misaki urged her on and gave her permission to voice her thoughts._

 _"Isn't this where Onee-chan's classmate lives? The one with all the pretty flowers?" Misaki's little sister asked as she pointed to a seemingly random and unimpressive building across the street. Misaki turned to look in the direction that her sister was directing her to and saw, much to her surprise, that she was right._

 _'Mother asked me to run an errand near Mitake-san's house?' Misaki thought to herself with a small frown. Misaki was about to turn her back to her classmate's house and go back to her errand when she saw the look on her sister's face._

 _Try as she might, Misaki knew that she would break in front of her sister's pleading look. Sure enough, a long, exaggerated sigh could be heard only seconds later._

 _"All right all right, you win. We can go see the flowers—," Misaki began, but stopped to reign her sister back in by the collar. When she had her sister's full and undivided attention once again, Misaki added, "After we finished what we came here for."_

 _"Aw. Please, Onee-chan?" Misaki's sister tried her pleading look once again, hoping that it would work once again. She was smart enough to quickly figure out that it wasn't and slumped her shoulders in defeat, "Fiiiine…"_

 _Misaki offered her sister a small smile as she guided her inside the shop. With the promise that she would be taken to the Mitake flower shop afterward, Misaki's sister behaved well and helped Misaki gather the needed items in record time._

 _It wasn't long until the Okusawa sisters were standing in front of the Mitake flower shop, each girl holding a bag of their own. Misaki's bag, however, was considerably bigger and heavier than her sister's bag was._

 _As soon as they entered the building, Misaki knew that she did not need to give permission to her little sister; she had already run off to—._

* * *

"Misaki-chin?"

Misaki jumped in her seat at being called, having zoned out at some point before drowning herself in her memories. Back in the present, Misaki held one hand up to indicate that she needed some more time and used the time to clear out her mind.

As Misaki was doing that, Tsugumi was muttering the seventh 'I'm sorry' in only two minutes under her breath. Moca and Ran were on the verge of offering their help to Misaki but changed their target to the brunette after seeing that Misaki would be fine.

A heavy atmosphere weighed down on the girls' shoulders for an extended period of time. It did not go away until Misaki finally broke the silence after several painstakingly long seconds came and went.

"Sorry… I must have zoned out there again," Misaki apologized as she was busy pinching the bridge of her nose. She then took a deep breath before turning back to her guests, "So… where were we, again?"

" _Tsugu_ here decided it was a good idea to remind us that we weren't the only ones affected by that fire three years ago," Moca explained, all the while ignoring the indignant, but apologetic, cry from Tsugumi. Instead of focusing on her childhood friend, Moca decided that her former classmate was more important to focus her attention on, "So was that the reason that you helped Ran, Misaki-chin?"

Misaki did not give her answer right away. When Moca voiced her question, Misaki was very interested in her right foot's toenails, unwilling to look her guests in the eyes. She took her time to think of a proper response, all the while making the conscious decision to take long, deep breaths.

When Misaki finally opened her eyes again, she was surprised to see the look on Moca's face. Since she did not look at Moca when Moca had asked her the question, Misaki had expected to see a look of disbelief, accusation, and even disappointment.

So it came as a big surprise for Misaki that Moca was offering her a smile that told Misaki everything she needed to know in that moment. The smile that only those restraining great emotional pain can have. And what really helped break the dam for Misaki was the moment when she realized that it was not just Moca who was looking at her in this way.

It was because of this that Misaki could feel the lie die out in her throat.

"…yes, I did," Misaki admitted through gritted teeth, her hair slightly obscuring the forlorn look in her eyes. The last thing Misaki could see were her three guests sharing a look of understanding with one another before her vision blurred.

Misaki did not know when it happened. She also did not know why it happened or what ultimately succeeded in pushing her to this point.

The next thing that Misaki knew was happening she was letting out a stream of words. Feelings that she had so carefully bottled up inside for years that were finally able to be let loose.

"I'm not amazing like you three are! I am just me, Okusawa Misaki. What can I do in comparison to all of you? I can't go and say 'I am completely selfless like that'!" Misaki was slightly out of breath, her eyes were red and swollen, and her fingers hurt from gripping on to the desk to support herself. This pain was what helped Misaki regain control and reign in her emotions a bit.

But Misaki was not done yet.

"I…" Misaki took a deep, shaky breath. She wasn't fully confident in her ability to stay in control, but she tried her best regardless. After a second of hesitation, Misaki found herself wanting to say it. Wanting to say what was really bothering her so much. But could she?

Misaki gulped, the action becoming a thunderous roar in the otherwise silent room. Moca, Ran, and Tsugumi all understood the situation and knew not to interrupt. Their patience was finally rewarded when Misaki started to speak again.

"…I saw her die in my arms. And there was nothing I could do to save her."

Misaki pulled her knees up to her chest and dug her face in them. Her original intent of using her knees to muffle the sound of her tears was a moot point in front of Moca, Ran, and Tsugumi. Misaki's efforts, coupled with the downpour outside that started to pick back up again, did muffle the sound of her cries, but the three childhood friends could understand what Misaki must have gone through.

Tsugumi was the first out of the three to act.

"It's all right, Misaki-chan," Tsugumi tried her hardest to make her voice as gentle as she could to comfort the crying girl. She combined this by wrapping her arms around Misaki and letting her cry into her shoulder, "I am sure that Misaki-chan did everything that she could do that day."

As Tsugumi was calming Misaki back down, she turned to look at Moca and nodded at the unvoiced question. Moca, and a bit later Ran as well, understood what Tsugumi wanted of them and got to work. Seeing her friends understand what she wanted them to do put a smile on Tsugumi's face, and with a slightly lighter weight on her shoulders focused her attention back on helping Misaki.

Moca and Ran, meanwhile, had gotten themselves in the kitchenette area of Misaki's apartment and were digging through Misaki's cupboards. While both of them were rummaging through the different containers they found, one was doing so with slightly more restraint than the other.

It was Ran who eventually broke the silence.

"Mochan, can you go get the kettle going?" Ran asked as her head pulled itself out of one of the overhead cupboards. Her right hand was holding a cylindrical glass container that held packages of tea in them, and Ran was already searching for the right one, "Hm… not that… not that one either… that one might give Okusawa-san a heart attack… I guess this one would be the best."

"Licorice, apple, and cinnamon?" Moca read out loud as she snatched the package from Ran's hands. Carelessly tossing it back to her childhood friend to focus on boiling some water, "Wonder why Misaki-chin got so many different kinds of teas. I always thought of Misaki-chin as a coffee person."

"Same here…" Ran admitted with a slight frown. The two girls then lapsed into a period of silence that was only broken when Ran decided to voice her worries to Moca, "Say, Mochan… do you think it was… wrong of me… to rely on Okusawa-san three years ago?"

Instead of receiving a proper response from her childhood friend, Ran was met with a question of Moca in return. A question that, Ran had to admit to herself, she should probably have seen coming.

"What I mean is that I might have been part of the reason why Okusawa-san has been hurting so much recently," Ran let out a deep sigh, unwilling to look her childhood friend in the eyes. After several false starts in which Ran barely made an audible sound, the last Mitake steeled herself before biting the bullet, "Back then, I was… scared. I was terrified that I could never see you or Tsugumi again, so I took whatever opportunity I could. I had to get back and Okusawa-san… was right there… And I might have dragged Okusawa-san down even further as a result."

"That's nonsense, Ran."

Ran looked up in time to see a glimpse of Moca's face before Moca's fist collided with Ran's cheek. Ran recoiled from the hit, more surprised by the action than actually flinching from the pain. As soon as she recovered, Ran turned back to look at Moca and was about to shout at her friend.

Ran would have if Moca had not beaten her to it.

"You can't fault yourself for what happened then, it wasn't your fault and we all know that!" Moca shouted as she rubbed the knuckles of her hand she used to hit her friend. Moca was not about to leave it at that, however, and moved well into Ran's personal space. For good measure, Moca even decided to grab a handful of Ran's shirt to prevent her from running again.

"You did what you needed to do and the people who supported you then did so because they wanted to help. Rinko-san, Misaki-chin, Lisa-san, and even Minato-san," Moca continued, the faces of those she could never pay back flashing in front of her mind's eye as she named them, "And even if Misaki-chin had another reason to help you, I am sure that she knew she could just… not help Ran at all."

"Mochan…" Ran's eyes were wide and her hand covered the stinging spot on her face, but more than anything Ran was stunned by Moca's words. Hearing it from Moca caused a switch to turn in Ran's brain and she had to admit—

"You are right."

Even though Ran had been thinking of the same words that had just reached her ears, she was surprised by the fact that it wasn't her voice who said them. It took Ran looking around her to finally realize the reason for this.

Ran and Moca were no longer alone in the kitchenette area; Tsugumi and Misaki had both joined them and were watching from a few steps away. It was only now that both Moca and Ran realized what they had been doing, a sheepish chuckle escaping the lips of one of them soon after.

"I would appreciate it if Aoba-san and Mitake-san did not tear this place down. The landlady would skin me alive if a fight were to break out here," Misaki began, already sounding a lot calmer than she had been minutes ago. Misaki saw Tsugumi smile at her childhood friends and decided to offer Moca and Ran a single nod, "But Aoba-san is right. I could have decided not to, but I did end up helping Mitake-san out of my own free will, knowing what it would entail."

"Although…" Misaki trailed off for a second, trying to find the right words to say what was on her mind. After a couple of seconds, she seemed satisfied enough to continue, "I did not do it just for Mitake-san. I was a mess when my sister died and I hoped that by helping Mitake-san get back on her feet I could find out more about that day."

"Not entirely unselfish reasons," Moca whispered in Ran's ear, although it wasn't clear if she tried to keep her voice low or not; regardless of Moca's intentions, both Misaki and Tsugumi could hear her every word. Neither Misaki nor Tsugumi decided to comment on this, however.

"Just like the three of you came here wanting to thank me, I want to thank you, Hazawa-san, Aoba-san and, of course, you as well, Mitake-san," Misaki bowed her head slightly in the direction of the girls as she called them by their names. Misaki then raised her head back up and smiled, "By helping the three of you reunite again, I was able to find out everything I needed to know about that day and now I can finally leave my sister down to rest in peace."

A period of silence soon followed as Moca, Ran, and Tsugumi all processed what Misaki had just informed them. Misaki took this opportunity to walk past her guests and finish preparing the tea herself. She could not help but raise an eyebrow when she saw what kind of tea Ran had picked out, but then remembered which family Ran came from.

By the time that Moca, Ran, and Tsugumi were all able to make a coherent sound, Misaki had already filled one teapot to the brim and was carrying it back to the living area of her apartment. This prompted the trio of childhood friends to hurry after their host.

"What do you mean that you found out everything you needed to know about that day, Misaki-chan?" Tsugumi asked, being the first of the three to catch up to Misaki. The brunette had also offered to help Misaki with the tea but Misaki turned down the offer with a small smile.

Ran, on the other hand, decided to take a completely different approach in questioning Misaki, "Do you know something that we don't?"

Misaki paused what she was doing for a moment to look Ran in the eyes. The two of them were locked in an intense staring contest that Misaki used to try and get a read on Ran's thoughts. When Misaki finally had to accept that it was a futile effort, she let out a sigh… but was soon found to be smirking openly.

"You did not tell me what the three of you know, so I can neither confirm nor deny that I know something that you do not, Mitake-san," Misaki said with a dry laugh. Misaki knew better than anyone not to push Ran's buttons too much, so she decided against extending her mirth, "Judging on your reactions, I guess I can say that I might know something that you do not, yeah."

"We know who was responsible for the fire to begin with," Moca explained, stepping forward when she saw that neither Ran or Tsugumi would be answering Misaki's implied question. Then, sounding somewhat downcast at needing to admit this, Moca added, "And… that is basically all we know from that day."

Misaki seemed satisfied by this answer and was taking a moment to think. She knew what she needed to do now and she was aware which parts of the story she could skip over. The question for her was simple: where should she begin?

After several painstakingly long minutes, Misaki finally came to a decision and turned to all three childhood friends at the same time. This time, however, her eyes did not hold the playful happiness or even the guilt-filled sadness that it did before.

Misaki's eyes were hard and filled with a sense of seriousness that she had not displayed yet.

"I won't be wasting any more time, then. What do the three of you know about the Tangleroad Corporation?"

* * *

 **And that will be all for today's chapter! The next chapter _should_ return to the usual third-Saturday-of-the-month schedule that this story aims for, which means… October 19th is when I aim to update this story again. Unless, of course, something comes up again; like… the aforementioned medical visit next week ending worse than I would have liked it to end. Nobody knows yet, so let's wait and see~ ...I am going to regret ending this chapter where l did, aren't I? ^^'**

 **Regardless of when the next chapter goes live, thank you for reading this chapter, I hope you all enjoyed it, please leave a review telling me what you thought, and until next time! Take care!**

 **Beta note ( LightZephyr): the tea that Ran was shown to pick out for Misaki near the end of the chapter is actually based on an actual combination used in teas in real life. As a matter of fact, both Fal and I are able to get this type of tea from one of the supermarket chains here in the Netherlands for… about an euro or so for a box of tea bags (I get them in bulk whenever a discount is slapped on them so it could be a bit pricier than that). I can confirm that, while it may seem like a weird combination, it _does_ work in calming and relaxing the drinker of the tea. Try it out if you're in the country.**


	17. The Confrontation (Part 2)

**All right… I am still alive and this story is still continuing, so hooray for both. I'll quickly offer my thanks to both the reviewers of the previous chapter as well as the beta for this one: LightZephyr.**

 **Also, fun fact for those who might be interested and who actually focus on the statistics of my fanfics: with this update, Scarlet Sunlight is now officially my longest fanfic in terms of word count at the time of this chapter going live (19 October 2019). Longest fanfic _ever_. It technically already achieved this a chapter or two ago because the story that held that title before Scarlet Sunlight had _insanely_ long ANs (as in… I would respond to reviews in the AN-long…).**

 **I do not own BanG Dream! Girls Band Party nor do I, in any way, shape or form, intend to pretend that I do.**

* * *

 _Misaki seemed satisfied by this answer and was taking a moment to think. She knew what she needed to do now and she was aware which parts of the story she could skip over. The question for her was simple: where should she begin?_

 _After several painstakingly long minutes, Misaki finally came to a decision and turned to all three childhood friends at the same time. This time, however, her eyes did not hold the playful happiness or even the guilt-filled sadness that it did before._

 _Misaki's eyes were hard and filled with a sense of seriousness that she had not displayed yet._

 _"I won't be wasting any more time, then. What do the three of you know about the Tangleroad Corporation?"_

Misaki's question, while a seemingly innocent one, carried a lot more weight to it than what it first seemed to be. The serious, stern look on Misaki's face was one thing, but the way she had phrased the question altogether was what caught Moca, Ran, and Tsugumi by surprise.

Ran took a moment to look at Tsugumi, expressing her thoughts in the short period of time their eyes honed in on the other. Both Ran and Tsugumi knew what the other was thinking, agreeing on voicing their thoughts at the same time. It was somebody else who ultimately broke the silence, however.

"Not too much, unfortunately," Moca admitted with a sigh, pushing a stray strand of hair out of her face. After a moment of hesitation, Moca started talking again, "Tomato-chin said that she was doing her internship with them, didn't she?"

'Tomato-chin? To think Aoba-san would come up with such a nickname for somebody… I guess Aoba-san really did not change at all since high school,' Misaki thought to herself, needing every bit of willpower to keep her face neutral. Or as neutral as an emotionally-drained, sleep-deprived eighteen-year-old can be.

"That… is not all… that we know about them, Moca-chan," Tsugumi said, sounding very slow and hesitant as if she was carefully considering which words she should be using. Ran, noticing this, walked up to the brunette's side and placed a reassuring hand on Tsugumi's shoulder.

"I was about to say the same thing as Tsugumi. We know more than that, Mochan," Ran began as she nodded at Misaki, receiving a small nod in return. Ran then turned back to Moca and added, "Think, Mochan. Would Okusawa-san really bring them up now if they were not somehow involved in all of this?"

Had it been any other situation, Misaki knew she would have broken down into a laughing fit seeing Moca's eyes widen in recognition. Unfortunately for Misaki, she knew better than to make light of the situation… especially when she reminded herself that she was in the presence of Aoba Moca.

"So… how exactly are they involved then, Misaki-chin?" Moca asked as soon as she had gotten over her shock and surprise. Realizing that she was the only one who was still standing, Moca hurried to get back to her seat.

"To tell you the truth, Aoba-san…" Misaki began, trailing off with a certain glint in her eyes. After taking another moment to think of the right words to say what she needed to say, Misaki began her actual answer to Moca's question.

* * *

"Well, that was… something, wouldn't you say, Ran?" Moca asked her childhood friend as the two of them were walking back to Moca's apartment in relative silence. It was only now, after fifteen minutes of heavy silence between the two friends, that Moca was trying to break it… and yet she only received a soft grunt as a reply.

Moca and Ran, when they saw that Tsugumi was effectively falling asleep in her seat at Misaki's place, had decided to call it a day as soon as the rain stopped pouring down. After saying their goodbyes and thanks to Misaki, the three friends made a quick stop to drop Tsugumi off at the Hazawa residence. When they had made sure that the youngest of them was properly tucked in bed, Moca and Ran made a move to go home as well.

Moca had expected that she would be parting ways with Ran a few blocks away from the Hazawa residence like they usually would, but she had been in for a surprise. Ran was following Moca but otherwise remained silent.

It was not as if Moca had not tried to start a conversation with Ran, but even Moca had quickly noticed how completely drained she was. Between meeting Rinko, Yukina, _and_ Misaki on the same day, Moca found herself more exhausted than she thought she would be; so she could only imagine how tired Ran was. And it was because of this that she did not even have the energy to interrogate Ran about her intentions of following Moca now.

"Moca."

Moca was shaken out of her train of thoughts by Ran's voice, needing a moment to fully process where she was and what Ran could want from her. After a few seconds had come and gone, Moca gave her friend a quick, sheepish apology before digging through her pockets for her keys.

Once the door to Moca's apartment was unlocked and opened, Moca stepped inside and held the door open for Ran to follow after her. The two girls proceeded to mimic each other's actions almost to the dot, from taking off their shoes to walking in the living room.

Moca and Ran only decided to move independently from one another when they were in the living room. Moca, despite how exhausted she knew she was, knew that she could not go straight to bed. Because of this, she chose to head to the couch and observe Ran from a seated position.

Ran, on the other hand, did not make a beeline to the couch. Instead of following Moca's example, Ran chose to look around the apartment's interior with some degree of amusement. To her, the apartment looked exactly like she would have expected Moca's apartment to look like: somewhat disorganized and put together without wondering how it would actually look like, but not an unclean space. It definitely felt like a very _Moca_ apartment…

Ran stopped looking around when she saw a familiar-looking picture frame on the dining table.

'Based on how disorganized everything else in the room is, this…' Ran frowned as she picked up the small object, raising it in the light so she could see it better. It did not take long for Ran to identify several familiar faces in the picture, including Moca's and Tsugumi's, but also of herself.

"You've been taking amazing care of this considering it has been three years already," Ran noted with a sad smile, tearing her gaze away from her younger self to address her childhood friend. When the two of them were looking at each other, Ran could feel a heavy weight start to build up in the pit of her stomach. Despite this, she managed to ask Moca a single one-word question.

"We've been over that already, Ran," Moca sighed, quickly figuring out where this conversation would lead them to. Deciding that she might as well get it over with quickly, knowing how stubborn Ran could be if she were to dodge the topic entirely, Moca stood up and walked over to Ran's side.

"For three years, three long years, Tsugu and I thought that you were dead. And while we already told you that Tsugu nor Moca-chan herself are holding it against you, we… were really hurt back then," Moca began, moving her fingers around Ran's to try and loosen the other girl's grip on the beloved picture frame. Ran did not try to struggle against Moca's touch, so as Moca pulled the object out of Ran's hands and returned it to its rightful place, she continued talking.

"And with Ran being so against taking pictures together, we didn't have a lot of pictures to remind us of you. This was the most recent one we had of you… the most recent one I had of you…" Moca said with a dry laugh, turning around on her heel for more than one reason and motioned for Ran to follow her. Moca trusted her friend to keep up with her and was not disappointed when she finally turned to look at Ran.

"But that is all in the past, and the past is nothing but a memory now, right?" Moca offered, trying her best to keep her smile as bright as she possibly could. Moca did not know if she was successful at this or Ran merely chose to not bring it up altogether, but Moca chalked it up as a win.

With that thought in mind, Moca threw all grace out the window and plopped down on the couch. A couple of seconds passed where neither girl was saying anything until Moca finally voiced what was going on in her head, "There is something that has been bothering me. Well… two things, technically."

"And what are those?" Ran asked after taking a seat on the opposite side of the couch, displaying significantly more elegance than Moca did. Ran then eyed Moca, trying to read the girl's mind but drawing a blank… if there was one person who was too unpredictable for Ran to get a good read on it was and probably always will be Aoba Moca. And Ran had never been so annoyed that she couldn't read Moca as well as Moca could read her.

"Not that I mind it or anything, but why did you follow me back to the apartment? Don't you have your own place to crash at, Ran?" Moca asked, making sure that she looked her childhood friend in the eyes as she voiced her question. When Moca realized the mistake she made, she was quick to add, "That was the first thing, by the way."

"I figured…" Ran sighed in response, appearing distraught and annoyed but the way her lips trembled gave her amusement away, "But to answer your question properly, the reason I followed Mochan was simple. You understood it as well, don't you?"

Ran then waited for Moca to give her the affirmative response that she was waiting for, but when Moca remained quiet for an extended period of time Ran knew that she had to continue, "I followed you because, like you, I wouldn't be able to sleep after what Okusawa-san told us. So with that in mind, I thought it might be more useful for us to spend the night looking more into it."

"And what was the other thing that you were wondering, Mochan?" Ran finished her answer with a question of her own, probing around for Moca to respond in kind. Ran waited patiently for Moca's response, where seconds turned into minutes, but her patience was finally rewarded.

"Don't you think that this is… all so strange?" Moca had pulled her phone out of her pocket and showed the screen to Ran. As Ran read what Moca wanted her to read, Moca added, "It's not like I don't believe Misaki-chin or anything, but… if it was as big as Misaki-chin said it was, wouldn't there be more info on that Tangleroad company? And why did it just seemingly disappear without leaving behind any trace at all?"

Ran frowned, realizing that Moca had been right. At some point between Misaki introducing them to the Tangleroad corporation and the talk Ran was having with Moca right now, Moca had looked on the internet for more information. Or, at least, Moca had tried.

The few things that Moca managed to dig up in her quick little search were of little to no use for them. Nothing on who the president of the company was, what they specialized in, or even where their headquarters were.

'Mochan is right… based on what Okusawa-san said, that company sounded like it did a lot of big things in the past, so why did it just… disappear?' Ran thought to herself as she reluctantly returned the device to its owner. As Moca pocketed her phone again, Ran's mind went into overdrive as she tried to make sense of the situation.

And then Ran stood up when she came to a conclusion.

"Mochan, can I borrow your computer?" Ran asked, jumping back on her feet and dusting herself off. When she saw the look on Moca's face, Ran added, "I am assuming it is still at the same place with the same password?"

"Uh… yeah, it is… but whatever you do, please don't open the third folder from the top-right on the desktop," Moca added that last part a bit louder, hoping that the increase in volume would allow her words to still reach a running Ran.

Moca was quick to wonder if Ran had actually heard her, and so, after some internal debate about whether it was worth getting up from the couch, hoisted herself back on her feet. By the time that Moca had entered her bedroom, she saw Ran's face only a few centimeters away from the monitor.

"Ran knows that that is bad for her eyes, right~?" Moca asked in a sing-song voice, hurrying over to stand by Ran's side and gently pull her away from the screen. Pushing back the urge to make more fun at Ran, Moca instead decided to do the next of her desires, "What are you doing, Ran?"

"There is no way that there is nothing on that company… there has to be _something_ as long as we keep looking," Ran spoke really fast, almost too fast for Moca to follow along. Ran's eyes darted around the screen as her hands moved the mouse at a rapid pace to open more webpages. The fact that Ran wasn't looking at Moca directly wasn't helping much, either.

Before Moca could even think of asking Ran to repeat herself, Ran let out a sound that would most accurately be described between a sigh and a groan before slumping down in her seat, "There really is nothing at all—"

"Ran."

"But that is impossible, Okusawa-san said that they were such a big company a few years ago—"

"Mitake Ran."

"And yet I can't find anything at all on them—"

Ran abruptly stopped rambling when she realized that she was looking at a black, empty screen instead of a browser with her recent searches. She was so caught up in her own train of thoughts that she never even noticed when Moca shut the computer down.

"Finally… sheesh, Ran, I could barely hear myself _think_!" Moca complained with an exaggerated sigh, pulling up a chair by Ran's side and plopping down. Moca made sure that she kept up the act of annoyance for a few seconds before she displayed how she truly felt, "I think we should call it a day. We're not in the right mindset to continue this fruitless search, so all we get is more wrinkles like Hii-chan will."

"But what about—," Ran tried to protest, but barely got the chance to utter a handful of words. Before she could even finish one sentence, Moca all but shoved her hand in Ran's face to shut her up.

"We won't achieve anything at this rate, Ran," Moca reasoned with a small smile. When she saw that Ran was about to protest again, Moca quickly thought of another way to ease Ran's annoyance, "We've waited three whole years for this… what does one more day mean when we can use the night to let everything rest so we can tackle it again tomorrow? Believe me, Ran, I want to find this out as much as you do, but maybe we are approaching this the wrong way."

Although the frown alone was indication enough that Ran did not like what she was hearing, Moca's words managed to succeed in one aspect: calming Ran down. Realizing this, Ran took a deep breath to help calm herself down even further, and only after she finished exhaling did she speak again, "You have a plan to try and find an answer then?"

"Half a plan, but I am sure that it should work," Moca admitted after a moment's hesitation, not sure if she was ready for the backlash she would receive when Ran hears she did not think things through again. But when that backlash never came, Moca could slowly but surely start to breathe again.

"Let's call it a night here, I'll just go ahead and grab a spare blanket and sleep on the couch. Ran can take the bed," Moca said, motioning to her bed as she stood up. Moca was about to leave it at that but quickly changed her mind when she saw the look on Ran's face, "You're not walking home at this hour. It's okay, Ran needs the bed more than me right now."

"That's… not it…" Ran muttered, not willing to look at Moca but reaching out her hand to grasp Moca's sleeve to stop her from leaving. The two old friends soon fell in an uncomfortable silence in which Ran refused to look up.

The silence lasted a total of two full seconds before Moca started to roar with laughter.

"If you tell anybody about this, including Tsugumi…" Ran tried to threaten, but it ended up failing to achieve the intended effect. The fact that, despite the words she chose, Ran's voice and expression did not succeed in making Moca feel threatened at all only made Moca laugh louder in response.

"Right right, just go and get ready for bed so we can get some rest," Moca shrugged off Ran's threat, her voice still carrying an undertone of amusement and playfulness. Moca had pulled herself out of Ran's grip, but before she left the room she added in as serious of tone as possible, "We need this rest, Ran. Trust me."

And with that, Moca left the room to change in peace, leaving Ran alone with her thoughts for the moment.

* * *

The following morning could not come fast enough for Ran and this showed for the last surviving member of the Mitake household. Ran barely slept, if at all, and instead had been lying awake with her thoughts for hours. Little did Ran realize that she was not the only one who could not get a lot of rest.

"Mo-oo-ooorning, Moca-chan, Ran-chan," Tsugumi greeted her friends, trying and failing to suppress her yawn. The brunette appeared to have something else on her mind she wanted to say but her thoughts died out when she saw the looks on her friends' faces, "What… did the two of you _sleep_ at all last night? You two look horrible!"

The three childhood friends had agreed to meet up in front of Moca's apartment after some persuasion on Moca's end. Moca had reasoned that, since Ran was staying over at her place for the night, they would need more time to get ready for the day than Tsugumi would.

Tsugumi had agreed without making much of a deal of it, but she knew the real reason: Moca and Ran weren't exactly known as the early birds of their class.

"Gee, thanks for the warm welcome, Tsugu," Moca laughed, playfully shoving her friend in the shoulder as she did so. Moca then chose to ignore Tsugumi's flustered stream of apologies to take a jab at her friend, "Besides… do you really think you can afford to say stuff like that when you look like a zombie yourself?"

"…guilty," Tsugumi chuckled sheepishly, squirming out of Moca's grip to catch up to her other friend. Tsugumi waited until Moca was walking beside them again before she added, "So… did the two of you find anything last night?"

"You knew, didn't you?" Ran asked Tsugumi, finding to her surprise that she was not surprised when the brunette nodded her head in response. Ran then needed a moment to come up with the right words to answer Tsugumi's earlier question.

After several false starts and hesitation-filled sounds that could barely qualify as words, Ran decided to ultimately be honest with her answer.

"We did not find anything new…" Ran admitted with a sigh, already regretting her inability to do anything. Right when Ran would drown herself in self-pity, and just before she would have to slow down her pace, she felt a gentle yet firm grip on her shoulder.

"Relax, Ran. It took Misaki-chin so long to even find _something_ , right? So it is only natural that Ran couldn't find anything in… ten minutes," Moca reasoned with a smile, nodding to Tsugumi who voiced her approval as well. When Moca saw that Ran seemed to have heard her, she turned back to the matter at hand, "Besides… that's why we're here. Remember how Moca-chan said she might have a plan to find out more yesterday~? We're here."

As Ran was left nodding almost mindlessly so and Tsugumi watching the whole exchange with mild curiosity, Moca raised her free hand and knocked on the door in front of her. They did not need to wait for much longer when the door swung open, but the face that Moca saw on the other side came as a big surprise to her.

"Ah, guests!" a blue-haired teenage girl exclaimed when she saw who were standing outside. Before Moca or Ran could say anything, the teenager turned around and called out to somebody behind her, "Mio! Go get Himari-nee and tell her she got three guests! A brightly smiling one, one with a pair of sharp eyes, and one who probably hasn't slept in three months!"

"On it!"

"Please don't get this the wrong way, I need to know from Himari-nee if I am allowed to let the three of you in," the teenager explained with a smile that Moca could only assume was meant to appear apologetic.

"Don't worry, we understand. Safety first before inviting random strangers in your house, isn't that right, Ran~?" Moca said, nudging her friend in the side playfully. Ran responded with a stream of spluttering nonsense, but Moca wasn't paying her any attention anymore, "So… Hii-chan and Tomato-chin finally got a kid, huh? Or two for that matter… I guess they have been busy."

"Moca-chan!"

"That's not it, Mio and I are—," the teenager standing in front of the doorway began, trying to explain the situation to Moca. She never managed to say anything more than a handful of words before a familiar voice called out her name.

"Setsuna-chan? Mio-chan said we had guests, who are they?" Himari's voice reached the ears of the blue-haired teenager, who Moca could only guess was the 'Setsuna-chan' Himari was talking about. Himari appeared in the corridor soon after, a small frown on her face that quickly changed into a bright smile when she saw who were waiting for her, "Tsugu! And Moca, too!"

Himari rushed up to the door to give her two friends a quick hug, receiving one in return from both Tsugumi and Moca, before she turned to the last person. Scratching her cheek with her index finger, Himari then asked Ran the question that Ran knew was coming, "Not to sound rude here or anything, but uh… are you a friend of these two?"

"It's okay, this is the first time we've met," Ran asked with a small smile before raising her hand in greeting, "Ran, Mitake Ran. I'm a friend of these two, yeah, sorry for barging in on you like this out of nowhere."

"Don't worry about it, Ran! A friend of Tsugu is a friend of mine!" Himari grinned as she took Ran's hand. After a second or so passed in which nobody said anything, Himari seemed to realize what she was doing wrong, "Ah, right, introductions. Sorry… my name's Uehara Himari, please come in."

Upon Himari's invitation, the three childhood friends gratefully followed Himari back inside. With Setsuna insisting she'd take care of their clothes and shoes after making them wait outside, Himari led Moca, Ran, and Tsugumi to the living room.

Himari motioned for the couch on one end of the room before muttering something about getting drinks and snacks for the guests. Not knowing what to do or how to stop the host, Ran ended up sitting down on the couch with her two friends sitting on either side of her.

Thankfully, they did not need to wait for much longer as Himari walked in with a small tray in her hands. Himari made an effort to actively turn down Tsugumi's offer to help her, forcing the brunette to sit back down.

When all four of them had a drink in front of them, Himari decided that she might as well be as direct as she could.

"Not like I don't like seeing your faces again, or for the first time for you, Ran," Himari added the second part quickly and was rewarded with a smile and nod from Ran for her efforts, "But why are you here? Tsugu might the kind of person to just come by for no reason at all, but I know that Moca isn't… so there's something you want from me, isn't there?"

"Hii-chan catches on fast after all," Moca nodded appreciatively, silently impressed by Himari's insight and understanding of the situation. Moca refrained herself from admitting as much out loud, however, and instead decided to return Himari's bluntness in kind, "But you are right. Tsugu?"

Tsugumi turned to look at Moca for a second, but when she realized what Moca had in mind she nodded quickly to show that she understood. The brunette then cleared her throat to try and get Himari's attention, a small action that proved to be successful.

"Himari-chan, I'm sorry, but we didn't actually come here for you. We came here for your housemate," Tsugumi explained as quickly as she could, pushing down her urge to apologize in favor of getting through the introductions as fast as possible. With a hesitant, almost scared look in her eyes, Tsugumi added, "Could… Could Himari-chan get your housemate now, please?"

"I think she might still be asleep, to tell you the truth," Himari admitted with a small frown, remembering how the redhead had gone off to collapse in bed after coming home not too long ago. When she saw the looks on her guests' faces, Himari added quickly, "I can go and check if she's awake for you, but I can't promise anything. Hang on a minute."

With a few words of gratitude from Tsugumi, Himari stood up and rushed out of the room. This left Tsugumi alone with Moca and Ran, but the living room did not remain quiet.

"Not to sound ungrateful or rude or anything, but do you really think that Himari's housemate can help us at this point?" Ran asked as she voiced the worry of all three childhood friends. That was not the only thing that worried her, however, as Ran quickly added, "Especially if she might still be asleep…"

"I'm sure that Tomo-chin can at least answer some questions," Moca thought out loud, but the way that she said those words betrayed her own hesitance and fear. Before Moca could say anything else, a new voice interrupted the silence.

"Who has the nerve to wake me from my nap when I just got comfortable in the blankets? Was it Setsuna?"

"If it was me, I would have asked you my question by now. I am walking right _next_ to you, Tomoe-nee!"

"It wasn't Setsuna-chan, Tomoe. It was, well… you will see in a little bit."

Almost as if they had practiced the motion for months before coming to Himari's place, Moca, Ran, and Tsugumi all looked up at the source of the voice at the same time. In front of them was the same person that they had met only a day ago, accompanied by a worried-looking Himari and an irate Setsuna who did not stick around for long.

It quickly became clear to Moca, Ran, and Tsugumi that they were not the only ones who were surprised when they saw who were in the room.

"Oh, it's you three," Tomoe said when she recognized the three guests, her earlier drowsiness and irritation melting away like a heap of snow in the spring sun. Despite her obvious state of exhaustion, Tomoe sobered up quickly when she saw the looks on her friends' faces.

"I guess I spoke too soon, this is going to be big, isn't it…?" Tomoe muttered to herself as she dragged one of the dinner table's chairs to the couch and plopped down on it. The redhead blew some of her hair out of her face before turning to Moca, "What do the three of you want with me this early?"

* * *

 **Yeah, a bit of a slower chapter, I know… I did not want to rush the plot too fast forward especially with how busy I have been in the past month… it would not have gone off well, and that would just be a disservice to the story as a whole and to the readers a.k.a. you.**

 **Anyways, I hope that you all still managed to enjoy today's chapter, please leave a review telling me what you thought, and until next time! Take care!**


	18. The Confrontation (Part 3)

**I wasn't planning on saying a lot here, but since we're reaching the end of this story I feel like I kind of have to bring this up (with "end of story" meaning that "the last chapter could be the chapter after this one")… I _could_ have gone in a variety of paths to wrap up this story and I also feel like all seven of them (that I can think of at the time of writing this) are valid endings for this story… but I have decided to go with what I have.**

 **This story was used to write a fanfiction based on and inspired by real-life events, something that I have tried to follow as closely as possible. And it is also because of this that the ending might… surprise some of you. Again, this story had quite a specific purpose and goal to achieve; which is also why I can say this as well: real-life works in very weird and unexpected ways sometimes.**

 **It's also because of that that I feel like I should re-emphasize this as I have seen some (implied) questions regarding this point: while I would be lying if I were to say that none of this story's characters were based on actions that either Zeph or I have done, it's none of the three main characters…**

 **A special thank you to the two wonderful reviewers from the last time and to my beta reader for this chapter: LightZephyr!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own BanG Dream! Girls Band Party, nor do I, in any way, shape or form, intend to pretend that I do.**

* * *

 _"Oh, it's you three," Tomoe said when she recognized the three guests, her earlier drowsiness and irritation melting away like a heap of snow in the Spring sun. Despite her obvious state of exhaustion, Tomoe sobered up quickly when she saw the looks on her friends' faces._

 _"I guess I spoke too soon, this is going to be big, isn't it…?" Tomoe muttered to herself as she dragged one of the dinner table's chairs to the couch and plopped down on it. The redhead blew some of her hair out of her face before turning to Moca, "What do the three of you want with me this early?"_

"This early?" Moca echoed as she stared at the taller redhead. With hints of a scowl on her face, she added, "Sheesh, Tomo-chin, you're not the early bird at all like I thought you'd be… watch out or you'll fall asleep where you're standing~."

The only reaction that Moca received from Tomoe was a slight widening of the eyes, a response that did not satisfy Moca at all. Thankfully for her, somebody else decided to respond for Tomoe's sake almost immediately after Moca finished talking.

"Hello?" Ran asked as she tapped Moca on the shoulder. When Moca turned to look at her childhood friend, she saw Ran lower her phone and pocketing the device again. Once she was sure that her phone was securely stored away, Ran looked up at Moca with a straight face and said, "Mrs. Kettle? Mrs. Pot called, she said you're black!"

"Now now, Moca-chan, Ran-chan, we didn't come here to Himari-chan and Tomoe-chan's place to have an argument, right?" Tsugumi saw the ever so subtle twitch of Moca's left eye and knew that she needed to intervene.

Knowing that this was not enough to stop Moca from flying at Ran, Tsugumi had to think quickly. Tsugumi plopped down in between Moca and Ran and used her body as a physical barrier, hoping that this would diffuse the tension between her friends. Both the words and the actions of the brunette managed to calm her friends down, something that Tsugumi was relieved to see, so she set her sights on her next objective.

"Sorry for waking you up from your rest, Tomoe-chan; if we had known you just lay down we would have come another time," Tsugumi offered with a small apologetic smile before she saw that Tomoe waved off her apology with a grin. This caught Tsugumi by surprise and she needed to take a moment to decide on her next couple of words. She finally settled on taking a page out of her friend's book, "We came here to ask you a couple of questions."

"I see… thank you, Himari," Tomoe added the last bit quickly when Himari walked in with a steaming cup of coffee for the redhead. Tomoe took a small sip of her drink as she mulled over what Tsugumi had just said, "In that case, what do you want to know?"

"I will get right to the point then; you're exhausted and we've been on a run for answers for who knows how long," Ran said as Moca suppressed a shudder beside her. Tomoe was about to reassure and ease Ran's apparent troubled mind when Ran raised her head again, "What can you tell us about the company you started working at?"

"The company I… why would you—?" Tomoe began her response by instinctively asking Ran a question in return, but she stopped halfway through when she saw the look on Ran's face.

Tomoe knew the summarized version of Ran's story, having heard it from her directly just the other day. And she knew that Ran knew about her internship program; if she hadn't told it the redhead could see either Moca or Tsugumi informing Ran.

So for them to approach her now of all times could only mean one thing in the redhead's mind…

Despite knowing what she wanted to say, Tomoe was not sure how she should tell Ran what she needed to know. With that thought in mind, Tomoe took a moment to try and think of the right words before she finally answered Ran's question.

"I'm sure that you came a long way to get here. And before you say anything, Moca, I know that you don't live very far from here; that wasn't what I was talking about," Tomoe added the second part when she saw Moca with her mouth half-open already as if wanting to say something. Suppressing the urge to smirk knowing that she caught the otherwise unpredictable and fluid Moca off-guard, Tomoe then continued where she had picked off, "But I am afraid I can't really help you."

The moment Tomoe finished talking it was as if somebody turned down the volume to zero. The three guests were completely silent as they processed what they had just been told in their own unique way. Tomoe was watching them with what appeared like a helpless and apologetic look on her face.

It was not only the living room that was quiet; the outside world appeared to have been muted as well. There was no wind blasting against the windows, no rustling of the leaves, and even a lack of chirping and singing birds. Even Setsuna and Mio had grown silent, both young girls feeling the weight in Tomoe's words from the other side of the room.

"What… What do you mean that you can't really help us?"

"It's as I said. It's not that I don't want to help you or anything, you're all good people and my friends, but in this scenario I am useless to you," Tomoe said with a dry chuckle, and it was only now when the redhead raised her head that Tsugumi saw the shiny sheen in Tomoe's eyes.

Moca and Ran were both quick to notice the momentary pause in Tomoe's speech and looked up to be greeted by the same sight as Tsugumi had been. It was ultimately Moca who tried to say something again.

"Tomo-chin, I—"

"It's not your fault, Moca," Tomoe waved off Moca's apology or words of reassurance, she would never know which would have come out of Moca's mouth, feeling like she did not deserve them. And although it hurt to admit this, Tomoe knew that she needed to say this now, "You see… the company somehow cleaned their slate completely. Nothing on what they did before two years ago can be found anywhere, and all employees who had been around before then had been let go. I couldn't even find any personal information on any of them at all."

"I'm not stupid, I put two and two together pretty quickly. The reason why Ran was willing to tell me everything was because you already knew my connection to that company and hoped I would be able to find something from the inside, wasn't it?" Tomoe asked with a warm yet watery smile. Had the mood of the day been any different she would have laughed seeing the looks on Moca's and Tsugumi's faces, but since it wasn't she let out a soft sigh instead, "I did some digging on the inside, asked my supervisor and coworkers and… nothing."

"So… there really is no information on them before that?" Ran voiced her question in what could have been mistaken as a steady voice, but even Himari managed to pick up on the subtle tremble. The hints of despair and desperation when one's final lifeline was cut and removed.

Seeing the sad shake of Tomoe's head did it. Something inside Ran broke—no, _shattered_ as it realized what this truly meant. What that one simple action from Tomoe really symbolized.

Before anybody could stop her, Ran was already up on her feet and out of the living room. And based on how fast her footsteps thundered in the silent corridor she would not be stopping any time soon.

"Ran!"

"Ran-chan!"

Two extra pairs of feet were running soon after, trying hard to catch up to Ran. Not long after the last two guests had made their exit, Tomoe could hear the front door being thrown open as the three guests stormed out.

Himari, who took a bit longer to process what had just happened, was about to run after her last two guests when she felt a hand grab her wrist. Despite her best efforts, Himari found herself unable to escape from Tomoe's hold on her.

"Tomoe, let me go! If I hurry, I can still make it and help them!" Himari tried as she poured in all her energy to escape Tomoe's grip. Unfortunately for Himari, the redhead was relentless and did not seem like she would let go of her any time soon. This did not stop Himari from at least trying, however.

"Just let it go, Himari… try to think things through from their perspective."

Hearing Tomoe's words caused Himari to momentarily halt her efforts, but it took her another few moments before she could actually process what she had just been told. Drawing a blank, Himari swallowed down her pride to ask Tomoe directly what she meant by those words.

"Think. Those three would probably have been looking around for this for a very long time, and I was their last hope to find out the answers they needed," Tomoe explained using a tone a sleep-deprived adult would use to explain to a child why two plus two would equate four. Tomoe let out a small sigh of relief when she saw understanding dawn on Himari and, finally feeling safe enough to do so, let go of Himari's wrist.

"And when Tomoe couldn't give them what they needed they broke and realized that they don't have anywhere left to go?" Himari asked as she allowed herself to sit down on the spot left empty by Tsugumi. When Tomoe nodded stiffly in response to her question, Himari grew quiet.

'So everything that those three must have gone through to get here… all for nothing…' Himari thought to herself, her eyes already starting to burn. No! She would not allow herself to break when she had friends fighting for their lives.

With a renewed sense of determination, Himari used the back of her sleeve to wipe her eyes. Feeling her hesitation try to claw back up from the pits of her stomach, she hurriedly gulped it all back down again before speaking in a voice that sounded foreign even to her.

"Is there… anything we could do for them?"

"Right now?" Tomoe asked, raising one eyebrow as she looked at Himari for confirmation. When she finally got it, Tomoe shook her head in resignation, "It all depends on how well Moca and Tsugu can help Ran. All we can do is hope and give them the time and space that they need."

"Tsugu… Moca…"

* * *

"I said… STOP!"

Barreling past a couple who could not be much older than she was, Moca let out an almost primal-sounding screech before kicking off the pavement. Her arms reached her intended target but, finding herself in mid-air, could not stop the momentum of her jump.

Moca ended up bowling Ran over and pinning the other girl on the ground after sliding on the ground for a couple meters.

With her head spinning from the fall and a sharp, stinging pain on her elbows, Moca barely realized when her other childhood friend caught up with them.

"Moca-chan! Ran-chan!" Tsugumi panted as she doubled over, hands on her knees as she took raspy breaths of air. Her breathing became much calmer and regular after a while, but the frustrated frown had not left Tsugumi's face, "Moca-chan, seriously… stop making a scene out in public like that. Everybody is watching us!"

True to her word, a small crowd had congregated to the spot where Moca and Ran lay on the ground. Tsugumi was the most affected by the attention, already fumbling around to try and reduce the spotlight on her. Ran, no matter how much she would have wanted to try and run again, was pinned down to the ground by Moca.

"It's not Moca-chan's fault that Ran mistook the plans," Moca shrugged, taking her time to stand up and dust herself off without a care in the world or acknowledging the onlookers, "Plan A was to talk it out with Tomo-chin and find an answer from her with the assumption that she had any. Plan B was to cut our way through the sea of people at that place and force our way to an answer with our fists."

"Plan C was to run away like a chicken," Moca added that last bit whilst mockingly flapping her arms by her side. An action that a certain someone did not seem to appreciate very much.

"Moca-chan!"

"All right all right, I get it, Tsugu. Don't insult the chickens by comparing Ran to them," Moca said with a serious nod. She then proceeded to ignore Tsugumi's outburst that that was not what she was talking about in favor of offering a hand to Ran who was still on the floor. Ran, for her part, managed to maintain a pretty stoic look on her face as she allowed herself to be pulled back to her feet.

"So has Ran gotten back to her senses yet? Moca-chan will tackle Ran to the ground again if Moca-chan has to," Moca added the last part with a playfully teasing tone, but she still made sure to help pat her friend's back. When Ran did not respond right away to Moca's question, Moca tried to probe for an answer again, "Hello? Moca-chan to the Ran-sama, is anybody home?"

Moca was expecting Ran to get emotional at Moca's pokes. Moca was also not ignoring the possibility for Ran to try and ignore her completely, focusing her attention on Tsugumi or even trying to run away again.

So it was a big surprise to both Moca and Tsugumi, whose expectations aligned almost perfectly with that of Moca's, when Ran merely shrugged Moca's hand off her shoulder.

"Ra—?"

"Just shut up and follow me for a bit. You too, Tsugu," Ran added as she turned around and slouched off to an empty bench. Gone was the spring in her step, the confident stride that she carried herself with. The prideful air around her that told those who ran into her that she would not hesitate at all.

In front of Moca and Tsugumi was just a tired girl who had seen better days.

"D-Did Ran-chan just call me… Tsugu?" Tsugumi asked with wide eyes as she looked at Ran's retreating figure. She could count the instances when she heard Ran call her anything but 'Tsugumi' on one hand, and this time would not force the brunette to use her other hand.

"I think she did…" Moca sounded just as surprised as Tsugumi was, but was faster to come back to her senses. It was because of this that it was Moca who gently shook Tsugumi's shoulder to help the younger girl focus on the present again, "If Ran did that, I am sure that whatever she wants us for now must be big. Let's not keep her waiting too long, all right?"

Tsugumi blinked twice as Moca's words reached her ears without Tsugumi hearing them. Moca recognized the blank look in Tsugumi's eyes all too well and repeated her earlier question for her.

Voicing her agreement to Moca, Tsugumi then looked over to see if Ran had already found a place to sit at. The of them then hurried over to join their other friend with Tsugumi sitting down on Ran's right and Moca plopping down on the left.

The three childhood friends soon found themselves in a period of silence that was simultaneously neither comfortable nor tense. They just sat there, either watching the white clouds drifting overhead or dangling their feet a bit above the ground.

None of them really took note of how long they sat there, so it wouldn't have surprised any of them if they had been there for hours. For hours before one of them finally gathered the words necessary to break the silence.

"So… what now?"

Moca and Tsugumi were quiet after the question was asked, but Ran was not limited in the same way. Instead of remaining silent, Ran let out a soft sigh; but neither Moca nor Tsugumi could pick up whether it was out of exhaustion, annoyance or… acceptance.

"We've tried to find answers for years now, and whenever we thought we found something… it was yet another dead end…" Ran trailed off, leaning back as far as the bench allowed her to do so and staring up at the cloud-filled skies above. In doing so she prompted Moca and Tsugumi to follow her lead, but if Ran noticed this she did not show that she did.

"I don't know how Mochan or Tsugumi are feeling about this all now, but to be honest—"

"Wow! Ran is being _honest_! Quick, Tsugu! Lend me your phone to record this!"

"Moca-chan! For crying out loud…"

"—I went into this, for lack of a better word, conversation with Tomoe hoping that she would give me the answers," Ran continued talking as if she had not just been interrupted, ignoring Moca's jab aimed at her in the process. And while Ran took pleasure knowing that she outmaneuvered Moca once again, she knew that she needed to get this off her chest.

Before her hesitation and unwillingness to let go off the past could make her second guess herself.

"But I… kind of have enough of all of this," Ran let out a deep breath, knowing that she needed to let go off the tension building up inside of her and feeling good that she managed to do so. But the real obstacle, at least for Ran at that moment, was still right in front of her. As a matter of fact, there were two: one on either side of her.

"Are you sure about that?" Moca, despite her playful teasing earlier, was not one to not notice an important change in the mood; and seeing the forlorn expression on Ran's face was all it took for her to take this serious as well, "I mean… after all these years we _finally_ got to a point where we can actually do something about this all."

"What does Ran-chan plan on doing now then?" Tsugumi decided to take a different approach, agreeing with both Moca and Ran at the same time so feeling like she needed to take a middle ground somewhere. After a momentary pause to choose her words correctly, Tsugumi then added, "Moca-chan and I have been trying to get over that incident for the past couple of years, but Ran-chan… Ran-chan has kept fighting since that day, hasn't she?"

"I have. Which is why I can say that enough is enough. I am tired of this game of cat and mouse we have been playing with the Tangleroads," Ran moved a bit in her seat to find a more comfortable position, the cold gusts of wind were not really helping her out in that regard, "I think Okusawa-san has also said this before. That I am wasting my life away trying to get this answer that, maybe, I was never destined to receive, to begin with."

"So how about it?" Ran asked as she took a moment to look at both her friends beside her. The two people who had been by her side from the very beginning. The two people who have been her motivation to keep fighting to this very day.

And the two people who Ran knew, without a doubt in her mind, that she would do anything to protect.

Seeing how their faces lit up was all the confirmation that Ran needed that she had made the right choice. That she would have their unrelenting support throughout her decision, no matter how selfish the request may have been from her part.

"We're probably worrying Himari-chan and Tomoe-chan if we stay out any longer," Tsugumi thought out loud, bringing Ran back out of her daydream in the process. By the time that Ran had turned to look at Tsugumi, she saw that the brunette was already standing and offering Ran a hand, "Let's go, Ran-chan."

"You missed out on three years of your life already, we have a lot to help you catch back on…" Moca trailed off as she took her place standing by Tsugumi's side. Then, just like the brunette was doing, Moca offered Ran a hand as well, "So Moca-chan and Tsugu should better start on that right away~."

"Mochan… Tsutan…" Ran breathed out, looking up at the smiling faces of her two closest friends. Despite the fact that she was overjoyed hearing this from her friends, Ran knew that she needed to make sure, "Are you two… sure about this?"

"What's there not to be sure about?" Moca shrugged, wasting no time whatsoever to answer Ran's question with one of her own. When she saw the hesitation still glinting in her friend's eyes, Moca knew that she needed to say more, "As much as I make fun of you, Ran, we're all friends. And if that choice of yours will be the only thing that can make Ran happy then Tsugu and Moca-chan are ready to stand by your side. Isn't that right, Tsugu~?"

"Of course!" Tsugumi nodded her agreement with a bright smile, "While I am sure that we're all still curious and want to know what really happened, we can… do that without obsessing over finding an answer."

"To be perfectly honest with you, Ran-chan…" Tsugumi trailed off with a sheepish smile, lightly scratching her cheek as she did so, "If Ran-chan hadn't said this then I probably would have said something similar anyway. So let's make the most out of our time together, just like we used to!"

Ran blinked a couple of times as her friends reassured her, telling her the words that she never knew she needed to hear so badly. This wasn't enough for her, so Ran then took a moment to wipe her eyes with the sleeve of her jacket before accepting both Moca's and Tsugumi's hands.

'I may still have questions left unanswered about that day, but maybe this is for the best. I should not waste my life away when my friends are right here, willing to spend their time with me,' Ran thought to herself as she allowed herself to be pulled back to her feet by Moca and Tsugumi, 'I am in their care, and maybe, just maybe, that was how it should have been from the start.'

* * *

"And that is the gist of it, basically," Tsugumi said as she finished catching Himari and Tomoe up with what the three childhood friends had been talking about earlier. Both Himari and Tomoe were listening attentively with warm and bright smiles, something that somehow managed to help ease Tsugumi's doubts; as if seeing those smiles was all it took for her to be convinced they were making the right choice here.

After Ran's confession, Moca and Tsugumi managed to successfully persuade Ran to follow them back inside the apartment of Himari and Tomoe. The walk back had been a peaceful one, none of them saying anything but all of them knowing that they did not need to voice their thoughts.

Their bond was strong enough for them to know what the other two were thinking.

Once back inside, Moca insisted that she would take care of their outerwear if Tsugumi took charge of telling Himari and Tomoe. And this was where they found themselves at now.

"I'm glad to hear that you all came to a decision about this, and hey… maybe I can convince my sister to bring her games over so we can play some party games together," Tomoe offered with a laugh, intending to sound like she was just saying it for the sake of saying it. When she saw that Moca was looking at her skeptically, Tomoe quickly added, "I mean it. My sister loves games and got a handful of consoles. I am sure she wouldn't mind bringing some games over the next time she visits."

Moca's face lit up and she was about to voice her approval, but she never got the chance to do so.

"I am sorry for dragging you into this mess and eating up your valuable time," Ran said while bowing her head as much as her body allowed her to do so. With her lower legs creaking dangerously and her upper legs shaking to support her weight, Ran remained in this position for as long as she needed to.

Which meant the better part of two seconds.

"What are you talking about?"

Himari sounded genuinely confused by Ran's actions and words, and it was this apparent confusion that prompted Ran to look up. When Himari saw that she had Ran's attention she decided to give her the answer that she must have been looking for.

"You did what you had to do to stay alive. To stay living. There's nothing to feel sorry about for asking for help, you know," Himari smiled, taking a moment to look at the others in the room with her to see how they responded. None of them showed any signs of disagreeing with Himari's words, so she took this as a sign to keep going, "Besides… you're a friend of a friend, which makes you my friend, too. And friends are out there to help."

"And a friend of Himari is a friend of mine," Tomoe picked up where Himari left off, seamlessly connecting her statement to Himari's. Before Ran could even think of arguing with the taller woman, Tomoe turned to Moca, "Say… it's starting to get late, how about the three of you stay over for dinner. That okay with the three of you, right?"

"I don't mind, we got more than enough food to whip something up for three extra mouths," Himari thought out loud as she went over a mental list of what she had in her fridge and cupboards. Realizing that they would be fine, Himari waved at Setsuna and Mio, "Can the two of you please set the table? We should have more chairs in the other room for Tsugu, Moca, and Ran."

"Of course, Himari-nee!" Setsuna said with a quick nod before pulling Mio along, "Come on, Mio, let's help Himari-nee out!"

"Tomoe, if you're able to keep our guests company until dinner is ready?" Himari asked as she stood up from her seat and got ready to head to the kitchen. When she saw Tsugumi stand up with her, Himari smiled, "I appreciate the offer, Tsugu, but you're still a guest here. Don't worry, I'll be able to handle it."

"Himari-chan, please. You look exhausted and the three of us didn't plan on staying here as long as we have. Ah, don't take that the wrong way, Ran-chan; we needed to fully explain everything to everyone, after all!" Tsugumi added the last bit quickly when she saw the crestfallen look on Ran's face. Tsugumi then cleared her throat somewhat sheepishly before she said, "Besides, now that I am an adult I should learn more things to cook for myself, right? Can you please show me how you cook, Himari-chan?"

Himari let out a laugh when she heard Tsugumi's words of determination, making sure to reassure the brunette that there was no malicious intent behind her actions. With no proper reason to turn down Tsugumi's offer to help anymore, Himari motioned for Tsugumi to follow her to the kitchen to start work on the dinner.

"And what about you, Tomato-chin? Do you still plan on continuing your internship with the Tangleroads after today?" Moca asked, making the question as innocent as Aoba Moca was capable of making it, but the hidden question underneath was plain to see. Even Tomoe, who hadn't known Moca for a long time, managed to pick up on this rather quickly.

"I will look for a new place as soon as I can. I would do it right now but you know how these things work; it's basically an unwritten contract binding me to them for a couple of months," Tomoe offered an apologetic smile as she explained her reasoning. Then, as if trying her best to lighten the mood, Tomoe grinned, "Just you wait until you have a taste of Himari's cooking. She's the best!"

"I'm already looking forward to it~," Moca nodded appreciatively, her mouth already starting to salivate at the thought of food. Moca then took a moment to nudge Ran in the side, "Ra~n~ Aren't you looking forward to it?"

Ran raised her head to look at Moca's expectant face before lowering her head again. _Was_ she looking forward to this? The truth was that Ran's head was still swarming with countless different thoughts, each more distracting than the last. The understanding that they had reached their umpteenth dead end, the acceptance that this was the limit of her abilities and the support of those around her in regards to her selfish decision.

It did not take long for Ran to come to another conclusion, the conclusion that she knew she would come to. There really was no other reply that Ran felt would have been acceptable to her.

"I can't wait!"

* * *

 **And that wraps up today's chapter! I hope you all enjoyed it, please leave a review telling me what you thought and until next time! Take care!**


	19. The Path to Tomorrow

**All right… a few really quick notes to start this chapter off: I have decided to make this story the originally planned length after all, which means that this will be the second-to-last chapter of this entire story.**

 **With this chapter, this story has also broken past the 100k word barrier, being both my first story to reach this and the first story of this fandom to reach this, at least here on FFN. I mean, to be fair, there might be longer fics over on AO3 but I don't care about that site at all; what matters to me is what's on this site.**

 **I want to thank the lovely reviewers for leaving a review on the previous chapter. And to the six or seven or so of you who left a guest review and notice that your review is not around: I really could not care less what you have to say. I write the things that I want to write, not the stories that I hope other people will adore me for. I am not doing this to make others happy, I write because I enjoy it and I post it because maybe other people can enjoy reading it. I already put up a fair warning on my profile page about this.**

 **A special thank you goes to the beta reader of today's chapter:** **LightZephyr**

 **I do not own BanG Dream! Girls Band Party nor do I, in any way, shape or form, intend to pretend that I do.**

* * *

It has been several months since Moca and Tsugumi reunited with their long-lost, previously-thought-to-be-dead childhood friend. A lot of changes had been faced by the trio of close friends.

After the declaration of Ran on a late-fall afternoon, Moca and Tsugumi agreed to try and move on. Motivated by the idea of returning to the way they once were and wanting to escape the stinging pain in their hearts, the three of them closed the page on their previous page of life and attempted to start from fresh.

And, for the most part, it was working. Tsugumi was able to get more rest again, the dark bags under her eyes slowly disappearing as the brunette was catching up to her lost sleep. Even Moca, who Ran had teased about looking sleepy all the time, was showing signs of feeling fresher than she had in a long time.

Even the weather seemed like it reflected the mood of the three childhood friends. The cold, gloomy chill of winter slowly made way for the warmth of spring, a change that was appreciated by everybody around.

But in stark contrast to the currently sunny weather outside, Moca was finding herself sitting in someone else's chair with her fingers deeply entangled into her hair. Her stormy mind could barely register and remind her where her body was at.

"Why do you not start from the beginning, Aoba-san?" a gentle voice asked, the comfort that the voice provided Moca was quickly accompanied by a warm hand on Moca's shoulder. Moca could swear the touch was almost magical as she could feel the tension and stress that had been building up inside her seep out of her system.

'With how understanding you are… I owe you at least an explanation,' Moca thought to herself as she offered a smile, a shaky one admittedly, to her source of comfort and reassurance. Moca then forced herself to grab the older woman's hand and pull it off her own shoulder.

Moca could only hope that she managed to mask that slight grimace enough for it to not be noticed.

"So, anyway… you know how Tsugu and I met Ran again after so many years and you know the general idea of what happened, right?" Moca asked despite already knowing the answer. A single nod was all the response that Moca received, and it was with that that Moca tried to think of a way to continue the conversation, "Well… after we were together again and all that, we… decided to try and move on from the past. Give up on trying to find answers and try to go back to how things used to be, you know?"

"That was probably for the best."

"Yeah, I know. We are still young and immature and that was a bad idea—wait, what?" Moca blinked as she finally processed what she had just heard. Moca even looked up to see if she could find any signs of it being a joke, but when Moca didn't find any she knew she had to ask, "What did you just say, Rinko-san?"

Rinko, for her part, managed to maintain a neutral look on her face. As a matter of fact, except for a slight raising of her left eyebrow, Rinko did not show any signs of being surprised at all.

"I said that Aoba-san's decision, the one that Aoba-san made alongside Hazawa-san and Mitake-san, was probably for the best," Rinko explained, lowering her cup of milk tea and gently placing it on the table in front of her. After taking a couple of seconds to make sure that she would not be saying the wrong thing, Rinko tried to ease Moca's confusion.

"I understand that it is something that Aoba-san and Aoba-san's friends found difficult to do, but at the same time, it is not healthy to cling on to the past. There are more ways to experience the world than to chase after something that you cannot reach," Rinko said with a warm smile. She hated to admit that she was still uncomfortable looking at somebody directly while she was talking, which was why Rinko was watching the swirling surface of her drink instead.

"S-Sorry, that was a lot of words for Moca-chan," Moca admitted with a sheepish chuckle, finding much to her surprise that she was already finding herself much more at ease than before, "But… what it came down to was that Rinko-san agrees with our decision and don't think that we made a mistake?"

"It is not my right to decide what Aoba-san should or should not do," Rinko's response was a calm one, almost as if the older of the two had been preparing responses for this conversation for months. Seeing that Moca did not quite believe her just yet, Rinko allowed a small sigh to escape her lips, "But subjectively speaking, I probably would be doing what Aoba-san is doing right now as well."

Having heard the words of reassurance that she never knew she needed, Moca smiled, a genuine and bright smile, before she realized that something was amiss. She almost did not want to say it when she noticed it, but judging on the knowing look in Rinko's eyes Moca knew that she could not hide it forever.

"Um, Rinko-san… can Moca-chan have some more of that tea?" Moca's voice was barely above a whisper as she showed Rinko the empty cup. Moca almost missed the soft giggle from Rinko when she stood up and headed to the kitchenette of the apartment.

This gave Moca the opportunity to relax and take a better look at the interior of Rinko's new apartment.

Rinko had told her that she had moved out of her parents' house and into an apartment at the city's edge shortly after Moca first met her. Moca, having seen how luxurious the house of Rinko's parents was, had expected to see the apartment be just as luxuriously furnished.

And, in a way, Moca's prediction was not too far off its mark.

The interior of the two-room apartment was painted in this pure white paint without a single spot of dust or dirt anywhere, a testament to how hard Rinko works to keep the place clean. The room that doubled as both a dining room and a living room had an oaken table to the side that had matching chairs with frilly and fluffy pillows.

At the same time, however, Moca needed to use all of her willpower to not visibly flinch when she looked at the windowsill. On top of the windowsill were a handful of plotted pants that Moca was able to identify really quick… but none of them were ones that could look well placed beside the others.

Moca was shaken out of her trance-like state when Rinko stumbled towards her with a small tray. The host insisted on Moca to remain seated and managed to place everything on the table despite her trembling hands.

After Rinko sat herself down again, the two of them remained in a period of comfortable silence until Moca finally broke it.

"Thank you very much for today, Rinko-san," Moca said as she bowed her head as far as the table would allow it. When Moca finally raised her head again, she caught Rinko off-guard once again, "If you don't mind me asking, Rinko-san… what have you been doing these past few months?"

"Me?" Rinko blinked as she tried to think of a way to properly respond to the question. After reassuring Moca that she did not mind answering it, Rinko took a breath before she gave Moca a proper response, "To tell you the truth, Aoba-san… I have been working hard to get a grip of reality, my personal reality, and to let go of the past."

"I am sure that Aoba-san remembered how I was when I ran into Aoba-san, Mitake-san, and Hazawa-san at the end of last year?" Rinko asked, silently hoping that she could fast forward through the painful parts and get straight to the point. Moca nodded once to show that she knew what Rinko was talking about, much to Rinko's relief.

"Just like Aoba-san, I was holding on to something from my past that was causing me a lot of pain. And ever since helping the three of you, I started learning how to let go of that past so I can return to living my life," Rinko's explanation was short, but somehow… Moca understood what Rinko must have been going through. Moca tried to reach out to Rinko to try and comfort her, but it was of no use as Rinko took the opportunity to look at Moca with a smile, "That is also why I can understand where Aoba-san is coming from."

'So that is what happened. I knew something was different about Rinko-san,' Moca thought to herself as she took another sip of her drink. The gentle, sweet aroma of the homemade tea that Rinko brewed for her worked its magic; helping Moca take longer, deeper breaths and relax her posture some more.

"There is one last thing I need to tell you, Rinko-san," Moca finally said after a moment of contemplation. As soon as Rinko had made it clear to Moca that she was listening, Moca raised her head to show the big grin on her face, "My name is Moca, please call me Moca."

* * *

"Rinko-san has been informed now, finally…" Moca muttered to herself as she took out her phone. The device was more so to distract her mind from her interaction with Misaki for the same purpose just two weeks ago. Moca was still looking out her windows anxiously before she went to bed, despite knowing that Misaki was just teasing her about it.

With her mind currently occupied with her phone, Moca barely avoided colliding with somebody who ran past her.

"Sorry about that—Tsugu?" Moca blinked when she finally recognized the brunette who was sprawled out on the ground. After helping her childhood friend back to her feet and handing Tsugumi the bags she was carrying, Moca asked the question that had been on her mind for a while, "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, just running a little errand for Ran-chan."

This was all the answer that Moca needed to hear. Ever since the three childhood friends agreed to start from scratch again, Ran had been moving around from Moca's apartment to sleeping on the couch in the Hazawa residence. This was all because the old house of the Mitake family was still under renovation, and it has only been very recently that Ran had moved back into her old house.

"I know that this asking a lot from Moca-chan, but…" Tsugumi trailed off for a bit, sounding almost embarrassed to ask Moca for help. She quickly shook off this sense of worry by reminding the promise she made to herself, "Ran-chan needed a lot of stuff, can you help me get them all for her? Unless Moca-chan still needs to talk with Rinko-san, of course."

"I just came back from talking with her, actually," Moca admitted with a nonchalant shrug, motioning for Tsugumi to follow her after stealing one of the bags her friend was carrying. The two walked a couple of blocks in relative silence when Moca finally lost all self-control, "Moca-chan likes what you did with your hair~ how long has it been since you had your hair this long?"

"Ah, um… three years, wasn't it?" Tsugumi thought out loud as she held a handful of strands near her shoulder. One of the many changes that Tsugumi had undergone was allowing her hair to grow out again and, in only a few months, it almost reached down to her shoulder blades, "Does it—Does it look good?"

"Looks great~," Moca grinned, relishing the relieved look on her friend's face when she heard Moca's response. A second thought popped up in Moca's head and thinking about it caused her to unconsciously slow down her walking.

This did not go unnoticed by Tsugumi who had stopped and turned to look at her, "Moca-chan?"

"It just… feels so stupid, you know?" Moca sighed as she offered Tsugumi a small, sad smile, "We've been hurting about Ran thinking she was dead for three years. Then we spent weeks obsessing over finding what we could never find, to begin with. And look at us now."

"I know what you mean, Moca-chan," Tsugumi said with a soft smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. Memories of how they were like a few months ago started to flash in front of her eyes, but Tsugumi did not allow herself to roam around in her fantasies for long, "I think we made the right choice that day. What do you think, Moca-chan?"

"Moca-chan thinks that Tsugu is right~," Moca sang as she picked up the pace, forcing Tsugumi to run in order to catch up to her, "The last one at Ran's place is a rotten egg!"

"Ah! M-Moca-chan, wait for me!"

* * *

"That was… not fair… leaving me behind like that…" Tsugumi managed to say through raspy breaths, but that was the least of her worries. What mattered to Tsugumi was catching her breath after sprinting after Moca for several blocks.

"Come now, Tsugu, was that really all that was needed to get you out of breath~?" Moca asked with a sly smirk, teasing her friend while she could. Moca decided to leave it at that and shuffled over to Tsugumi's side to rub the brunette's back, "There there. Is that better?"

"…A bit," Tsugumi admitted before she straightened herself up. When she was chasing after Moca, Tsugumi did not have the luxury to take note of where the two were running towards. But now that she could afford to look around her calmly, she was impressed by Moca.

Moca had guided them to their final destination all under the guise of playing a playful game of cat and mouse.

"If Tsugu is ready?" Moca asked for confirmation, looking at the brunette to make sure that she knew she was waiting for her. When Tsugumi gave her a small but determined nod, Moca knocked on the front door a couple of times, "Hello~ just two adorable girls looking for a skeleton after hearing we could find one here~!"

"M-Moca-chan!"

"What? It's true, isn't it?"

Before Tsugumi could try to respond to Moca's rebuttal, the front door swung open with the slightest hints of a creak. Moca was about to complain about being forced to wait when her jaw almost fell to the ground.

Even Tsugumi, despite trying her hardest to not stare as much as Moca was, was speechless with what she saw.

"Ah, Mochan, Tsutan, I was hoping you two would be here soon," Ran said when she saw who was visiting her. Ran then motioned for her childhood friends to follow her inside, but when both Moca and Tsugumi remained rooted to the ground Ran knew something was on their minds, "Is there something on my face?"

"Actually, Ran-chan… there is," Tsugumi finally said as she raised a shaky finger to point at between Ran's eyes. As Ran raised her own hand to try and find out what Tsugumi was talking about, the brunette answered Ran's unspoken question for her, "Since when has Ran-chan started wearing glasses?"

"Oh, that… a while now, actually," Ran muttered the second part barely above a whisper. Not wanting to be outside any longer than she had to be lest she'd lose her face out in public, Ran turned around and walked back inside. She made sure to leave the door wide open so Moca and Tsugumi could know that they had been invited in.

"Pardon the intrusion," Tsugumi said as she stepped inside, hearing Moca do the same before closing the door behind her. After the two of them took off their shoes and put on the pair of fluffy slippers, they proceeded to shuffle their way in the direction Ran went.

Ran had been working hard on getting the house back to its original state ever since she had reconciled with Moca and Tsugumi. Her house had been barely more than a ruin but with the small fortune her family had built up and a lot of help from her friends, Ran's house was almost back to the way it used to be.

"Did you get everything I asked for, Tsutan?" Ran's voice carried over from the other side of the living room. Ran's head then popped up over the back of the couch as Moca and Tsugumi entered the room with their bags in hand, "Sorry for asking you all of that."

"It's nothing, really. We're all friends so I'm more than happy to help," Tsugumi smiled as she placed the bag she was carrying by the dining table's legs. While Moca placed her bag beside Tsugumi's, Tsugumi added, "And besides, we've all agreed that this was the path we wanted to take, right?"

"Speaking of the path we wanted to take, today was the day, right, Moca-chan?" Tsugumi asked as she turned to her friend, stopping Moca from bowling Ran over. When Moca did not respond right away, Tsugumi took a moment to clarify, "When I met Moca-chan today Moca-chan said she already talked with Rinko-san. How did it go?"

"Oh, that. It went really well, actually," Moca nodded appreciatively at the memory of her meeting with Rinko. Moca was quick to read the look on Tsugumi's face, so she hurriedly tried to elaborate, "Well… Rinko-san was supportive of our decision. What else can Moca-chan say? That it went better than trying to tell Misaki-chin? That wouldn't have meant much anyway; it's _Misaki-chin_ we're talking about!"

"Mochan does have a point, I'm surprised Okusawa-san accepted it, to begin with," Ran said, coming to Moca's defense as she offered a can of juice to both of her friends. Ran then led the way to the couch where the three of them plopped down and relaxed, "Even if Okusawa-san went off on her own. It's her choice and we should respect it, just like how everybody's respecting our decision."

Moca, Ran, and Tsugumi then fell into a comfortable silence as each of them allowed their thoughts to swirl around in their heads. It was only after ten minutes had come and gone when one of them trailed off with her sentence to break the silence.

"About that…"

Ran and Tsugumi turned to look at Moca, both with varying degrees of curiosity etched on their faces. With no way out, a scenario that she knew she'd be stuck in when she opened her big mouth again, all that Moca could do was take a deep breath.

"I am sorry, Ran! Tsugu!" Moca cried out while bowing her head, the sound of Tsugumi's gasp muffled by the bonk of Moca's forehead on the table. With a red spot on her forehead, Moca then added in a subdued voice, "I know that we all agreed to move on from the past, but I really can't. There is something that I can still do, I just know it, and… please forgive Moca-chan!"

"It's interesting that you brought that up, Mochan," Ran began as she looked at Moca with a calculating look in her eyes. Right when Moca was about to complain that Ran's gaze was making her feel uncomfortable, Ran looked away to turn to Tsugumi, "What do you think, Tsutan? Don't you think that what Mochan just said was both just like her and very not-Moca-like?"

Tsugumi did not have a response ready right away, instead only blinking a couple of times as she tried to think things through. When she realized what Ran was trying to say, she nodded and turned to Moca, "Moca-chan, what do you have in mind?"

"I… really did not think things through beyond that," Moca admitted with a sheepish laugh, not wanting to tell her childhood friends that this declaration was merely exclaimed in the heat of the moment.

Which was exactly why Moca replayed her own words back to herself in her mind. _Was_ she satisfied letting things sit the way like this? Before she even had the time to come to a decision, the trio of childhood friends was greeted by another surprise.

"I will be right back," Ran announced as she stood up, heading off to the front door to see who would visit at this hour. The only thing accompanying Ran's footsteps were the soft creaking of her legs with every step.

"Is what we agreed on back then too painful for Moca-chan after all?" Tsugumi asked her friend as soon as Ran was no longer within hearing distance. Tsugumi's voice was filled with pain, but not of the kind stemming from betrayal; Tsugumi could only think of the possibility of making Moca do something against her wishes.

"It's not like that, it's just… they hurt Ran, you, and me so much, isn't it natural to start wondering?" Moca felt guilty needing to say those words out loud; after all, Tsugumi was right. The three of them had agreed to move on and leave it behind them, so why was Moca hesitating now?

Moca felt a little better when she saw that Tsugumi was unable to respond to her right away.

"I guess Mochan and Tsutan aren't the only two people I will have over tonight," Ran said as she re-entered her living room. Ran was flanked by two faces that Moca and Tsugumi recognized only all too well.

"Lisa-san! And Rinko-san, as well!" Moca exclaimed the moment she recognized the other guests. Lisa waved at Moca enthusiastically when she heard her name called, but Rinko was slightly more subdued in her greeting, "What are you two doing here?

"I was actually on my way here, Ran asked me a favor the other day and I only had time to get back to her today," Lisa explained while handing a small box to Ran. As Ran excused herself to place the item somewhere safe, Lisa motioned to Rinko, "I ran into Rinko a few blocks away from here and invited her to come."

"I hope we did not arrive at a bad time, Hazawa-san, Ao—Moca-san," Rinko added with a slight bow of her head. Rinko then tried to ignore the surprised look on Tsugumi's face, instead focusing on the appreciative smile on Moca's, "How is that, Moca-san?"

"Moca-chan would have preferred it to be Moca-chan, but this will do for a compromise," Moca shrugged as she motioned for the two new guests to join her on the couch with her. Rinko was more than eager to join Moca's side, but Lisa was not as excited to sit down, "Lisa-san?"

"Sorry, Moca, but I still need to do something before I can relax," Lisa's response was simple enough, but one that only caused more questions than answer them in Moca's opinion. The ghost of a smile descended on Lisa's lips before she turned to Tsugumi, "Can you show me where the kitchen is? Ran already gave me permission to help her with dinner. It's the least I can do for arriving out of the blue as I did."

"Ah, sure," Tsugumi stood up and muttered a quick farewell to Moca and Rinko. Leading the way for Lisa, the two brunettes were soon out of sight, leaving Moca alone with Rinko for the second time on the same day.

The very fact that they had talked to their heart's content already that day proved to be a problem for them: neither Moca nor Rinko knew how to break the silence that weighed heavily on their shoulders after the departure of Tsugumi and Lisa. Both of them tried and failed, to start a conversation with the other but nothing came to it.

That was, at least, until Rinko noticed the way that Moca had been fidgeting about.

"Moca-san?" Rinko asked, already mentally berating herself for sounding so unsure of herself. But, if nothing else, Rinko could see a small victory: Moca was paying attention to her.

It was then that Rinko remembered that she still needed to continue the conversation and hurried to string together a coherent stream of words, "You looked troubled. Is everything okay?"

Moca did not respond right away to Rinko's question, instead allowing the older girl's words to swim around in her mind. _Was_ she okay?

"I feel… bad, needing to vent to Rinko-san like this for the second time today," Moca admitted with a sheepish chuckle. Before Rinko was even given the chance to reassure Moca, Moca had already picked back up where she had left off, "It's nothing, really. I just told Ran and Tsugu what I told you and… it did not go so well, to say the least."

Rinko, for her part, remained quiet as Moca told her what was on her mind. After taking a moment to make sure that Moca had finished talking, Rinko eyed the direction in which Ran and Tsugumi had gone off.

What Lisa had told them was only half the truth; Rinko knew that Moca would act rashly after her earlier encounter with her so when Lisa had told Rinko that she was going to visit Ran's place, Rinko found her opportunity.

Now that it has come to this, however, she was having trouble to stop herself from second-guessing herself. This was what she wanted, the thing that only she could do, right?

"I think… that despite Moca-san's friendship with Mitake-san and Hazawa-san, Moca-san needs to build her own path to her future," Rinko said, her soft voice personifying the hesitation that she felt. Seemingly unsatisfied with her own answer, Rinko added, "I mean… Moca-san has her own life to live, and if Moca-san think that this is important—."

"I appreciate that you are trying to ease Mochan's worries, Shirokane-san, but there is no need for that," Ran interrupted Rinko mid-sentence to motion for Moca and Rinko to follow her. Moca's eagerness was shown clear as day on her face, but Rinko was a lot more withdrawn as she fell into step with the other two.

Which was why Ran knew that she needed to finish what she had started, "Tsutan and I… we can't say that we're not surprised to hear this decision of yours, Mochan. But, as your friends, we will try and help you out however way we can."

"We cannot, _however_ , guarantee to be able to help you all the time," Ran put the emphasis here as she eyed Moca with a sharp look. Ran's gaze softened considerably by the time she opened her mouth again, "The three of us have already agreed to leave it behind us, after all."

"Ran…" Moca breathed out, abruptly stopping in her stride and forcing Rinko to jump to the side in order to avoid colliding with her. Offering a quick apology to Rinko, Moca turned back to Ran with a confident grin, "Guess that means that Moca-chan really isn't allowed to fail at all, now does it~?"

"If you do, you will be answering to me, got that?" Lisa, who had just dashed out of the kitchenette area, announced. Despite wanting to sound threatening, the big grin on her face gave away her true intentions, "Since Tsugumi and I have been cooking, your job is to go set the table. Rinko, go help Moca."

"Ah, right, of course," Rinko bowed her head ever so slightly in acknowledgment, hurrying after Moca to help her set the table. Rinko managed to stay behind long enough, however, to see the playful wink she was getting from Lisa.

As soon as Moca and Rinko were no longer within hearing distance, Ran moved to stand by Lisa's side and whisper a couple of choice words.

"Of course I am," Lisa responded with a smile as if she just gave the most obvious answer there could be. When Ran did not seem like she was convinced by her answer, Lisa turned serious and added, "It's your life and your decisions. I helped as a friend to all of you, and if this is the path you are all taking then I am more than happy to help you in any way I can."

"Then how about the two of us go and help Tsutan now that she has been alone in the kitchen for so long?" Ran asked, much to Lisa's amusement. The two of them then moved to help Tsugumi with the finishing touches of the meal.

With Ran and Lisa's help, Tsugumi managed to finish the dinner for everybody without much of a hassle. And since Rinko had accompanied Moca with preparing the dinner table, the five of them could enjoy the dinner to the fullest.

The sound of idle chatter accompanied the clinking of utensils as they ate and enjoyed the company of the others in the room. But for one of the occupants at the table, what was happening in her mind was demanding more of her attention than what was going outside it.

'The peace and happiness we've all fought for and the support of everyone…' Moca thought to herself as she watched Tsugumi laugh at a joke Lisa just made. Moca knew what she was getting herself into and what she needed to do.

But all of that did not matter to her anymore. Moca would do it, and she knew she would have the strength and determination to see it through to the end.

She owed her friends at least that much.

* * *

 **And that will be all for today's chapter! And, yes, since we'll be having the twentieth chapter of this story go live in January, I hope to start the new decade off with the closing of one story and the opening of another. To help me with that—actually, no, I'll keep that a secret for now… you will all just have to wait and see in January! Unless, of course, you're from the future, in which case: hi!**

 **I hope you all enjoyed it, please leave a review telling me what you thought, and until next time! Take care!**


	20. Sunsets and Tomorrows

**And here's the finale of this story after two years of writing it (I started writing this story in January** **2018)** **. It really has been one long ride** **…**

 **A special thank you to the reviewers of the last chapter and, of course, to** **LightZephyr** **and** **Namita776** **for the beta read of this final chapter!**

 **I do not own BanG Dream! Girls Band Party nor do I, in any way, shape or form, intend to pretend that I do.**

* * *

 _It was a bright and warm morning._

 _The citizens of Neo Signal City were rising out of their slumbers, well-rested and motivated to take on the day's challenges. The torrential rain that had been hammering down from the heavens above had finally let up, allowing the sun to break through the blanket of clouds. And with the sun's arrival came the brightening of the citizens' mood._

 _After all, with the threat of a power outage on everybody's minds, it was a relief that the worse of what mother nature had in store for them was already behind them._

 _Before anybody else, one woman was already outside the safety of her own house. The ground was still a mess after the mass flooding that occurred only days ago, and even the flora had not been spared; many of the trees had been blown over and, in general, had clearly seen better days. But this woman did not care about the state of the outside world, all she could care about was standing on top of her house's roof and scanning the area directly around her._

 _But what could she be thinking? And who was—_

"Moca-chan! We're going to be late!"

Moca did a double-take when she looked at the clock in the bottom-right corner of her computer screen, seeing that she had lost her sense of time once again. She quickly made sure to save the document she had been working on, turned her computer off and stood up while stretching her arms above her head.

'Ah, that felt great,' Moca thought to herself after the satisfying cracking sound of her shoulders filled the room. She then remembered that she had been called and knew that she could not leave the other person waiting for much longer.

"Be there in a minute!" Moca called out before rushing over to her wardrobe and digging through it. Much to her relief, the outfit she was looking for was not buried under the pile of dirty laundry she had stuffed in there the previous day.

In a flash, Moca exchanged her casual clothes for the more proper clothes, smiling to herself when she saw how well they fit her. Moca then had to make a conscious effort to _not_ sprint out like that; instead, the twenty-three-year-old begrudgingly took her hairbrush and started work on the tangled blob that was her hair.

There was only one problem with this, however.

"Come on!" Moca hissed in annoyance as she got the brush stuck in yet another knot. No matter how hard Moca tried to pull her brush free from the entanglement, she only ended up with a stinging, ringing pain on her scalp.

"Here, let me help you, Moca-chan."

Moca's body immediately relaxed when she felt the gentle touch of her friend uncurl Moca's fingers from her brush. Although she was embarrassed to admit it, Moca knew that her friend would be able to fix her hair better than she could.

"Do you want me to tie your hair up again?" the gentle voice, barely above a whisper at all, asked as Moca could already feel the light pulling on a couple strands of hair.

As the two of them stood in front of the mirror, Moca mulled over her options. She knew that she could trust the other woman with her life, much less her hair. But right as Moca was about to approve, another thought crossed her mind.

"No need, everybody needs to be able to recognize Moca-chan right away, don't they~?" Moca asked in a sing-song voice, looking at the reflection of the woman behind her to gauge her reaction. Moca had always been proud of her ability to read the expression of others and today was no exception.

"All right, if that is the case then let's get going," the other, slightly shorter woman said with a soft sigh, putting Moca's hairbrush in its rightful place. She was already halfway to the door before she noticed that she was alone, "Moca-chan?"

"I'm right here," Moca said, popping by her companion's other side from seemingly out of nowhere. Silently relishing the soft squeal that came from her friend's mouth, Moca showed the reason for her delay before offering a small but genuine smile, "Shall we?"

* * *

The walk to their destination proceeded without anything out of the ordinary happening, much to Moca's subdued dismay. Instead, Moca had spent most of it talking with the woman walking beside her about everything and anything.

Having someone to talk with was a pleasant change of pace for Moca, who had holed herself up in her apartment for the past week or so. The conversation continued bordering around _that_ topic, but Moca managed to lightly dance around that by pointing at random objects around them. A butterfly fluttering in the gentle, zephyr-like breeze here, the discoloration on a group of leaves there; there were enough things Moca could use to distract her companion long enough.

Before too long, the two of them had arrived at their destination. A familiar building was towering above them, making Moca notice even more just how small and insignificant she really was in this world. Perhaps seeing the troubled look on Moca's face, the other woman guided Moca inside where Moca made their presence known to those already there.

The interior of the Hazawa Café was the same as it has always been and exactly like Moca had remembered it to be. A fact that would not be too difficult to achieve considering Moca had visited this place less than a week ago.

The wooden tables that decorated the inner area of the café were decorated with a thin cloth, each table having a uniquely designed and patterned cloth over them. The chairs that were tucked in under the desks, unlike the desks themselves, were all the same, although Moca _did_ notice the polished shine on the hardwood.

The café had always been known to be brightly lit, especially at this time of day, and today was no exception. The numerous large windows allowed for a considerable amount of sunlight to enter that resulted in a warm and welcoming atmosphere. Just the way that the regular patrons of the café liked it to be.

"Sorry we were so late," Moca called out, bowing her head timidly as she anticipated the looks of annoyance and frustration from those already present. When Moca never received the verbal lashing that she had expected to get, she raised her head again with a look of genuine confusion on her face, "What? But Moca-chan is late by two hours again?"

"Actually, Moca-chan, for the first time in a long time… you're early," Tsugumi explained as soon as she was close enough to her childhood friend, not quite following Moca's line of reasoning. Tsugumi was even about to open her mouth again when she saw that Moca did not understand what she was talking about, but then stopped as realization dawned on her.

"You didn't…?" Tsugumi breathed out, but the question was not intended for Moca. Rinko, who had been standing by Moca's side throughout the quick interaction between Moca and Tsugumi, nodded silently.

This response was the final straw for Tsugumi; unable to contain her giggles anymore, the brunette doubled over while holding on to the wall for support. Even Rinko herself had a mischievous twinkle in her eyes and a sly smile on her lips watching the state that Tsugumi found herself in.

"In case you were wondering what is going on, Moca-chan…" Rinko trailed off, turning to Moca to see that Moca was indeed confused at the interaction that was happening in front of her. Rinko mulled over her options, wondering how to properly explain this to the younger woman before settling on simply telling Moca the truth, "The reunion is not until another half hour. I do not know how Hazawa-san feels about this, but I was getting very tired with Moca-chan's consistent two-hour delays."

"Which is why you told Moca-chan that the reunion was more than two hours before the actual time so we would come on time for once?" Moca finished Rinko's explanation for her, receiving a satisfied nod as the only form of confirmation. Moca was about to complain but knew that Rinko made a valid point, so instead, she merely sighed in defeat, "Well played, Rinko-san. Well played."

Rinko did not have the time or the freedom to bask in Moca's unique way of praise as Tsugumi had sobered up already. However, much to her amusement, Rinko could still see the brunette's subtly quivering shoulders from time to time.

"Ran-chan is the only other one who is here already, being on time for once as well," Tsugumi added the last bit in a hushed whisper, but it was still loud enough for both Moca and Rinko to hear it as well. Tsugumi then led her friends to where Ran was seated, weaving around the many tables inside the café with practiced ease in doing so, "If Moca-chan and Rinko-san already know what you want to drink, I can go place the order for you."

"The same as always for Moca-chan," Moca smiled without skipping a beat, plopping down on the bench opposite of Ran and making sure to shuffle to the edge to make room for Rinko. Right after Rinko told Tsugumi what she wanted to get as well, Moca remembered something, "You're not on a shift right now, are you?"

"Of course not, Papa gave me the day off. He's even made it a rule that I am not allowed to work on general holidays," Tsugumi waved off Moca's worries with a smile. Seeing that she had eased Moca's worries, the brunette excused herself before rushing over to the cashier.

This left the only occupied table in the café in relative silence, but not for very long.

"You two have become… rather close over the past few months," Ran commented as she noted the distance in between Moca and Rinko; or, better phrased, lack thereof. The impact those words had on the two was immediate, much to Ran's amusement, "Since it will probably still be a while before the others get here… something going on between you two, Mochan?"

While Rinko was unable to hide her flinch entirely, Moca had no such problems. But Moca chose a much more Moca-like way to respond to Ran's question.

"Are you sure you are one to talk, Ran~?" Moca asked in a sing-song playful voice as she leaned close to Ran. Making sure that her voice was hardly above a whisper to keep her next few words a secret from Rinko, Moca added in that same sly manner, "How is it going with your progress. Does Moca-chan need to call someone over~?"

"M-Mochan!" Ran cried out, shuffling as far away from her childhood friend as she could without falling off her seat. With a laughing Moca returning to her seat as well, Ran mumbled a quick couple of words of understanding at the situation.

The three at the table soon fell into a period of silence that was neither comfortable nor awkward; it was just _there_ and they grew to live with it for the time being. That was, at least, until Rinko stood up and excused herself for the moment.

"You know what, Ran? Moca-chan is in a great mood today~," Moca said as soon as Rinko was no longer within hearing distance. Ran, despite knowing how this could potentially end up going, still found herself drawn towards her childhood friend.

If nothing else, Moca's suggestions and ideas were anything but dull and not amusing. Ran would never admit this out loud and stroke Moca's already monstrous ego in the process, though.

Much to Ran's displeasure, Moca took her time to look around her to make sure that nobody would be around. This only served to add to Ran's curiosity, something that Ran was unable to completely hide.

In truth, Moca had picked up on Ran's eagerness and was only prolonging the wait to tease her friend.

"Moca-chan will help Ran with Ran's love problems if Ran helps Moca-chan's with mine," Moca finally whispered in Ran's ear, knowing that nobody but Ran would be able to hear her anyway but doing so to pique Ran's curiosity regardless. When Moca returned to her seat and could see the look on Ran's face, Moca quickly added, "And don't say that you don't need the help; I think even Tomato-chin knows, and she's as dense as dense comes."

Ran sighed in both annoyance and acceptance, knowing full well that Moca was making a good point; she needed help desperately and if help came knocking on her front door…

'This won't go as smoothly as you think it will, Mochan…' Ran thought to herself when she saw an opening to get back at her friend, "Shirokane-san! I think Mochan is dying to tell you something!"

Moca only needed half a second to realize what Ran was trying to do and tried to kick her friend under the table in an effort to shut Ran up. It was only right _before_ her foot made contact, when it was already too late to stop herself, that Moca realized the grave, not to mention painful, mistake she had just made.

As Moca had expected, Rinko had taken her place beside her again, but Rinko was not alone; Himari and Tomoe both pulled a chair to sit with them as well. Both of the newcomers exchanged friendly greetings with Moca and Ran before they, like Rinko, turned to look at Moca in anticipation.

"You do, Moca-chan?" Rinko asked, tilting her head slightly to the side whilst trying to guess what was going on in Moca's unpredictable mind. The slight yelp that escaped Moca's lips did not go unnoticed by Rinko and the eldest of the group was quick to bring it up, "A-Are you all right, Moca-chan?"

"Never better…" Moca hissed through gritted teeth as she leaned down to inspect her throbbing toes. Much to her relief, none of them seemed to be broken and her worst injury was the blow to her pride.

"Are you going to make Shirokane-san wait any longer or should I ask it for you, Mochan?" Ran smirked, visibly enjoying the discomfort of her childhood friend. Rinko had only a vague idea of what Moca wanted to ask while Himari and Tomoe, having only just arrived, were completely left in the dark.

"All right all right, Ran, I get it. I didn't mean for it to be done _right now_ but it looks like you gave poor little Moca-chan no choice in the matter," Moca grumbled, turning away from her so-called best friend and instead facing the person who had accompanied her to the Hazawa Café, "Um… Rinko-san? Do you, you know… want to go out with Moca-chan after this?"

"Moca-chan…" Rinko's soft intake of breath was muffled by the loud squeal coming from Himari's seat and by Tomoe who nearly coughed up a lung. Rinko remained quiet long enough for both Himari and Tomoe to calm down again, giving Ran the time to be impressed by how direct Moca was before Rinko finally gave her response.

A response that caught everybody off-guard.

"…what?"

"I said that I was wondering why Moca-chan seemed so nervous asking me out on a date," Rinko repeated her answer, trying to sound as calm and neutral as possible while she explained her reasoning, "Moca-chan and I have been dating for a couple of months now, after all."

"You've been _what_?!"

Ran had jumped to her feet, but she was not the only one who had exclaimed those three words. Both Himari and Tomoe, and even Tsugumi who had silently joined them at some point, were all speechless at this announcement.

It was ultimately Ran who realized what had really happened.

"You set me up!" Ran pointed an accusatory finger at Moca, but Moca did not seem to have heard Ran. Instead of paying attention to her friend, Moca was accepting a couple of bills from a dejected Himari and Tomoe and stuffing them in her pocket, "You… even made bets?"

"Yup. Hii-chan said I wouldn't be able to ask Rinko-san out, giving me the start of today's reunion as the deadline. Tomato-chin said that Ran would get a partner before Moca-chan did. Obviously, both of them lost," Moca added the last part with a mischievous smirk which was accompanied by groans of resignation and acceptance from Himari and Tomoe. Moca then turned to Rinko and pouted, "Couldn't Rinko-san have played along just a bit longer? It was so much fun teasing Ran like that."

"Sorry, Moca-chan; I am still… adjusting and adapting," Rinko offered Moca an apologetic smile as she reached for and grabbed her lover's hand. Exchanging the apologetic smile for a more genuine one, Rinko added, "I would love to go on a date with you again, Moca-chan. But before that… don't you think that you are forgetting something?"

"Ah, right. Thank you for reminding Moca-chan," Moca grinned before turning back to her best friend. Ran, despite knowing full well what Moca was about to say, visibly flinched when she saw the twinkle in Moca's eyes, "So when are you telling you-know-who you-know-what, Ran~?"

Ran had made the unfortunate mistake of taking a sip of her drink right before Moca asked her that question; the coughing fit that followed was frantic enough that even Tsugumi was shuffling away a bit. The only person who did not react to Ran's outburst, aside from Moca who knew full well what she was doing, was Rinko.

Instead of showing her concern for Ran like Tsugumi and Himari were, or outwardly scolding Moca, like Tomoe was, Rinko decided to react in a completely different way. A manner that was oddly reminiscent of how Moca would have reacted if Moca was in Rinko's shoes right then.

"That was not what I was talking about, Moca-chan, and you know that," Rinko scolded the younger woman, who could only chuckle sheepishly in response. Moca had already started digging through her bag before Rinko could scold her some more, which prompted Rinko to focus her attention on the next issue at hand, "I know that this is kind of rude of me, but there is something that I–no, _we_ wanted to ask everybody for some time before we start this reunion."

"You don't have to be so formal with us anymore, Rinko-san," Tomoe tried to lighten the mood, feeling somewhat suffocated by how tense Rinko had been. A glance around her told the redhead that she wasn't the only one; Tomoe was just the first to say something about it.

"I understand, but this… it concerns Mitake-san's past, so I am naturally careful with how I phrase this," Rinko explained, offering a quick apology to Ran as soon as she finished. Rinko then noticed that Ran wanted to say something, but she stopped the younger woman before turning to Moca, "Is it ready?"

"As ready as Moca-chan will ever be," came the response from Moca, sounding a lot more devoid of emotion than she normally was. After reassuring both Tsugumi and Himari that everything was all right and that they did not need to worry about her, Moca took a deep breath and made her announcement.

"Moca-chan sent a file to everybody," Moca explained, motioning to her phone that she had lying face-down on the table. When her friends finally got the hint, and with a subtle push of Rinko's hand on her back, Moca added, "If it is not too much trouble, please check it out and tell Moca-chan what you think."

"Since Moca-chan has asked us such a request, there is no way any of us could say no," Tsugumi said with a small smile, hoping that this was enough to reassure her childhood friend. When she saw that it did, Tsugumi turned to Ran, Himari, and Tomoe and said, "How about it? We can postpone it for a bit longer if Moca-chan needs us to check it out."

* * *

"That was…"

"Amazing…"

Moca, despite having prepared herself for this scenario in her mind prior to arriving at the café, still found herself squirming slightly in her seat. She was not completely sure how to properly respond to all the praise she was getting, and the twinkle in the eyes of Tsugumi and Himari wasn't helping her in that regard.

"I mean… thank you, Tsugu, Hii-chan," Moca mumbled, almost embarrassed to do so. Fortunately, Moca managed to keep her composure long enough to stop her friends from overwhelming her with the praise and compliments even more, "But… I still have a long way to go."

"Maybe so, but this… might actually work," Ran mused as she scanned her phone's screen again, going over what she had just seen only moments ago. Without looking up, Ran added, "Is this what you will be going for, Mochan?"

"Actually, it isn't. This is just the first draft, I have a lot of things that still need to be changed," Moca admitted before turning to Rinko for reassurance. When Rinko smiled at Moca, Moca turned back to Ran, "For example… wouldn't it be a smart idea to at least change the names of everyone?"

A short period of silence followed where everybody except Moca and Rinko were considering what Moca had just brought up. A tense, heavy, uncomfortable period where all six of them were feeling as if the air was being squeezed out of their systems by a pair of invisible hands.

So it was a great relief when somebody finally broke the silence, releasing the weight off of everybody's shoulders by doing so.

"That's a good idea," Tomoe thought out loud, drawing out each word as if she was unsure of what she was saying herself. It did not take Tomoe long to notice this as well, which was likely the reason why she was quick to speak again, "My sister is pretty good at coming up with names, I can give her a call and ask if she could help you with thinking up of some?"

"That would be very helpful," Moca thanked the redhead who offered her a grin in response. She then took out her phone went through her note on the device, "Aside from that… there is one last request I wanted to ask of you, Tsugu, Ran."

* * *

"Everything seems to be in order, Aoba-san," the older woman announced as she rearranged the stack of papers in front of her. Across her desk came three consecutive sighs of varying levels of relief, much to her amusement, "Although I do need to remind you… if you choose to publish it under a pseudonym, you may not bee able to receive the recognition that you deserve, Aoba-san."

"That might be so, but I have made up my mind; considering the contents of that book, we decided it is for the best," Moca responded, seeing her friends nod silently beside her. Spurred on by this small act of support, Moca took a deep breath to calm her nerves before she spoke what was on her mind, "So if it is at all possible, please allow me to not use my name. My real name, that is."

As the older woman confirmed to Moca that this was indeed possible, Ran shuffled behind her friend to ask Tsugumi the question that had been on her mind for a while.

"I… don't remember either," came Tsugumi's whispered response, the brunette sounding sheepish as she had to admit that she, too, did not know the answer. Tsugumi was spared from any further embarrassment when she heard her friend's voice.

"Thank you very much for your time!"

Tsugumi barely had a second to realize that both Ran and Moca were on their feet and bowing to the older woman before she felt a firm hand on her back pushing her down. While Tsugumi made a mental note to thank Moca for her quick thinking in preventing her from looking like a fool…

'This may not have been the best alternative…' Tsugumi thought to herself with a painful grimace, hoping that nobody would notice the reddening spot on her forehead. Fortunately for Tsugumi, the attention was all on Moca as she was trying to make a final deal.

This gave Tsugumi the opportunity to turn around and rub her forehead lightly, hoping and praying that it would not leave a visible mark for when she would have to go to her job again in the morning.

Before long, the three childhood friends stepped outside where they were greeted by a cool breeze. After being cooped inside for several hours, this was a pleasant change that all three of them welcomed with open arms.

Moca, Ran, and Tsugumi then started walking back home, enjoying the silence between them as they made their way through the nearly-empty streets. The silence would have lasted if one of them could suppress their curiosity for a while longer.

"So, Moca-chan, you never told us," Tsugumi trailed off, making sure that she had Moca's full and undivided attention before asking such an important question. When she saw that she had it, the brunette finished her question, "What _did_ you decide on for the book's title?"

"Moca-chan didn't?" Moca asked, tilting her head slightly as she tried to remember if this bit of information slipped her mind at all. When neither Ran nor Tsugumi tried to correct her, Moca knew that she must have forgotten, "Sorry, but it really should have been obvious what Moca-chan would have chosen for the title."

"Like the setting sun at the end of the day, you look at it with the memories of what you did on that day while having your hopes up for what tomorrow might bring," Moca said with a smile, allowing herself to slow her pace down as she basked herself in the last bit of sunlight of the day. Ran and Tsugumi had stopped too, taking in what Moca was saying while noticing the warmth radiating from their friend, "Like the closing of one chapter of life and the beginning of the next."

"That… is very beautiful, Moca-chan," Tsugumi smiled while Ran voiced her agreement as well. They did not need Moca to explain her reasoning as much as she had, but now that Moca had neither Ran or Tsugumi could say they disagreed with Moca.

"Right~?" Moca grinned, looking at her two friends before she noticed an opening, "All right! Enough loitering about, last one home's a rotten egg~!"

Moca then took off in a mad dash past Ran and Tsugumi without waiting for confirmation or even a sign of acknowledgment that they had heard her. As the air got filled with Moca's infectious laughter, she did not need to look back to confirm whether her friends were running after her.

"Ah! Moca-chan!"

"No fair! You got a head start!"

And as the three childhood friends left the scene, two young women running after a third, the sun behind them slowly set and hid behind the horizon; basking the streets in a warm, dark red hue as it did so. The day was getting to a close and, like the last chapter of the lives of our heroines, would start anew next time: refreshed, bright, and ready to take on what would be thrown their way.

Now, like Ran and Tsugumi, you might be asking yourself: what _did_ Moca name her book that detailed their entire life adventures and where can an interested individual go to read it? Moca chose to publish it under a different name with the help of those around her, and finding this book might become more of a challenge as a result.

The book that Aoba Moca got published is right here in front of you. You just finished reading it.

* * *

 **And that's all for Scarlet Sunlight!**

 **Special thanks to:  
\- My amazing beta readers: LightZephyr, Namitaa776, ShinyPidgey20, and the beta reader of chapter 13 who wished to remain anonymous  
\- Reiriniverse on Tumblr for this story's cover image  
\- The people who allowed me to write a story based on and inspired by something that happened to them (who wish to remain anonymous)  
\- To all the reviewers of this story, most notably (to me) Rider and ReiTheMegaMawile for reviewing every chapter up to chapter 19  
\- To you, for taking the time out of your day to read this story from start to finish**

 **As for what is to come after** **Scarlet Sunlight** **… I have another story planned, but no predicted/expected date when the first chapter can and/or will go up. I am** _ **hoping**_ **it'll be in February, but** **… we'll see** **…**

 **Thank you for reading** **Scarlet Sunlight** **, I hope you enjoyed it, please leave a review telling me what you thought, and… until we meet again. Take care!**


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